Sunshine in Your Smile
by Araceil
Summary: All Might rescues a rather prickly Doctor with a dark past and finds his life taking a most unexpected change. For someone so small, there's a lot of personality there, and he can't help but be drawn to that, like a moth to a flame. Slash, Toshinori/Harry.
1. Chapter 1

_**000**_

 **THERE'S SUNSHINE IN YOUR SMILE**

All Might rescues a rather prickly Doctor with a dark past and finds his life taking a most unexpected change. For someone so small, there's a lot of personality there, and he can't help but be drawn to that, like a moth to a flame. Slash, Toshinori/Harry.

 **I think it's safe to say that BNHA has crowbarred me out of the KHR fandom. Probably for the best, it was... becoming unpleasant there tbh.**

 _ **000**_

 **CHAPTER ONE**

Harry supposed he should have expected this. He'd made more than enough enemies in his life for this sort of thing to be a foregone conclusion to be perfectly honest.

The only surprise was that it hadn't happened sooner, he decided as the sickening feel of inertia took hold and the sound of screeching horns and breaks filled the air. Distantly someone was screaming, not him, he was too busy saving his breath in order to ignite the oxygen in his system – he wouldn't get up to heat quickly enough to Fire Jump to safety, but he could start his internal Rebirth Flame enough that he would survive the impact.

Really now.

He was going to be late.

Green eyes squeezed shut, even as his grip tightened on the files clasped to his chest, he couldn't afford to lose them, let anyone _steal_ them. He braced for impact.

Something hit him alright.

But it was the firm _heat_ of a human body, thick muscles banding around his waist and hips, plucking him out of the air in one full sickening sweep – he didn't have motion sickness, but the way the contents of his stomach just _swung_ with the movement had him feeling a little green. There was a weird crunch, not too big, and the sound of something _huge_ and metallic going through the air.

He risked opening his eyes, and found himself with his cheek plastered against straining blue, red, and white spandex, staring up at a strong jawline and the underside of a truck being held aloft in one hand.

"DO NOT FEAR! FOR I AM HERE!"

His expression immediately twisted into one of disgust.

 _Heroes_. Just what he wanted to deal with this morning, grand-standing idiots who spent more time posing for the cameras and flashing their Quirks than minding their own business, doing their jobs, and moving on. Though this was probably the first time he'd had the displeasure of the Number One Hero All Might's personal attention – as if his morning couldn't get any _worse_ than when he was dealing with the fakest of the lot.

"Wonderful, put me down now if you please," he snapped out, already attempting to wriggle his way to freedom.

Then he spotted his files scattered across the pavement, obviously some of them had managed to slip free during the few split-seconds of chaos, but if even _one_ of them was lost it could prove disastrous.

"I said _let go!_ " he snarled, his voice distorting with his anger, the extra vocal cords he usually kept such tight control of twanging as the Pro-Hero dropped him in surprise. Harry paid him no mind, desperately scrambling to snatch up the all important folders, cursing under his breath, and paying the truck held over his skull no attention. Someone coughed overhead, and Harry rolled his eyes as he straightened up, flipping through the various coloured cardboard, making sure he had everything.

One was missing.

The navy blue one with the photographs from the April incident.

A cold flush went through him, all his hair standing on end in alarm as he jerked his head up, ready to mow just about anyone aside in order to find it, and had said folder tap him on the skull.

All Might was grinning toothily at him, holding it out, "Citizen! I believe _this_ is what you were looking for!" he exclaimed, and Harry tried not to twitch when he saw people taking photos out of the corner of his eye. He snatched the file out of the man's hands, and quickly flipped it open to make sure nothing was missing.

There was a moment of total silence before the Pro-Hero suddenly started to loom over him, his presence doubling down, too bad for him that Harry gave precisely zero shits about muscle-bound morons that pranced around in spandex as if the job of saving people was a fucking joke. "Those photographs – "

Harry snapped the folder shut, "Are part of an on-going investigation that I will _thank you_ not to interfere with, Hero-san!" he snapped forcefully, taking a step back and turning the Glare he often used to make idiot interns cry. "Thank you for saving me. Now if you'll _excuse me_ , I have an appointment I am now _late_ for!"

He suddenly found himself in mid-air again, "Then allow me, Citizen!" the Pro-Hero declared cheerfully, and Harry was _so fucking tempted_ to kick him in the face, but he was going to be late and if the slab of mobile beefcake could get him there...

"Tokyo District Court then – please," he added, because he wasn't raised in a barn and the man _was_ doing him more of a favour than saving his life previously had been. Yes he could teleport but... Any unauthorised activation of his Quirk could see his ass kicked _out_ of Japan, and that was quite literally a fate worse than death for him given his past and the people after him.

"Brace yourself, Citizen, and we'll be off!" the Hero declared, waiting just long enough for Harry to distastefully knot a hand in the fastening of his cape before launching himself into the air fast enough that even Harry had to squint and turn his face away from the rush of air. All Might could not fly. But he could jump like a seven foot flea – which was roughly the equivalent of six football fields side by side. Though given the heights he had to reach because of the many office blocks, it would still take them ten minutes near enough to reach the courthouses. "Those pictures, Citizen, why do you have them?" the Hero asked while they were in midair, the grip on Harry's hip more than conveying that he would not be accepting a non-answer on this.

The green eyed man gave the Hero a dark look, "I would like to remind you, Hero-san, that medical records are not open to police, or even Pro-Heroes without the appropriate warrants. As for your question, I am the Doctor that treated and reported the situation to the _relevant_ authorities. Set me down around the corner if you could. The Defence Attorney is overly fond of using 'Hero Interference' legislation to get charges dropped," he explained shortly, turning his attention away from the blond who, somewhat sheepishly, adjusted course ever so slightly and dropped down behind a cafe just around the corner from the court houses.

"My apologies, Doctor. I did not mean to sound accusatory," the Hero said as he knelt to allow the green eyed young man to slid to the floor.

The doctor grunted, checking his phone, "You got me here in good time. I'll call it even," he stated before nodding to the spandex clad man, he took a step, paused, frowned and sighed, "Thank you for saving me from the truck," he recited dutifully, and grimaced when the Pro-Hero seemed to swell with self-importance and strike a goddamn _pose_ of all abominations.

Harry didn't listen to what he spewed about whatever it was he said, instead, he triple checked his folders, ran a hand through his hair, and quickly made his way out of the alley towards the courts, leaving the Hero mid-sentence to deflate in disappointment, and a little hurt. The Pro-Hero huffed a little in amusement, hopping to the top of the building to watch the Doctor cross the road towards the court house, checking both directions before running over towards a police officer and a few other individuals in suits. Words, handshakes, and bows were exchanged between them and the small group moved into the courthouse, already discussing the case, and the copies of the Doctor's evidence.

All Might sighed deeply, satisfied with another job well done, and trying to ignore the unusually cool feeling on his side where the Doctor had been just moments before, radiating enough heat to put Toshinori's waterbottle to shame. He turned on heel and launched himself towards the next citizen in need to help, putting the pretty Doctor out of his mind.

It was unlikely they would ever meet again.

 _ **000**_

Fate just loved to laugh right in his face.

Not even a _day_ later, barely six hours if _that_ , Toshinori had already clocked off for the day, stuffed his costume into his briefcase, filled in his timesheet, and gotten halfway home when he decided to stop for something to eat.

So of course he would have an attack _in the middle of the restaurant_.

He spewed blood, food, and bile across the table and even himself, and kept coughing, and coughing, and _coughing_ , and that was flesh now joining the growing puddle – people were screaming around him, and he kept trying to apologise, to reassure them that no, no, he was fine, honestly, he would be fine just –

"Back off, give him some air!" a semi-familiar voice was ordering, "Out of the way, I'm a Doctor! You, get the first aid kit from the kitchen; you, every tea-towel you can spare; you, the biohazard clean up kit; you, scissors; you, some manner of privacy screen!"

A moment later the familiar face of the pretty Doctor he saved from becoming pavement splatter appeared in front of him. "Hello sir, my name is Doctor Potter, the Ambulance is on its way, in the mean time I'm just going to move you into a more comfortable position," he explained his voice gentle. "I'm going to move this table out of the way so I can get closer to you, alright? Don't be alarmed," he said soothingly a moment before he quite _literally_ ripped the bolted down booth table out of the floor and wall, and pushed it to one side with almost insulting ease. A super-strength quirk, hm?

Warm hands settled onto Toshinori's back and chest, and a moment later he was bent double with his head between his knees, wheezing.

He could hear the doctor murmuring under his breath as he accepted something and the blond felt his clothing shifting, a moment later he felt a breeze across his back and spat up a little more blood in surprise, coughing harder as he shook his head and grabbed at the well meaning doctor.

"N-no, ple-please," he gagged.

"I'm sorry sir, but I need to see your chest and back to properly treat you." The man was implacable but apologetic and Toshinori didn't have the air to argue further as another coughing fit racked through him and more blood splattered the floor – and the Doctor himself he realised with a pang of embarrassed guilt. "Don't worry about it," the Doctor said gently, a hand rubbing his shoulder, "I work in Accident and Emergency Paediatrics. Blood is actually the least offensive bodily substance someone has covered me in," he jibed playfully as Toshinori felt the scissors finally cut through the collar of his shirt and the whole thing slide forward, revealing his emaciated frame for all to see.

Shame burned in the pit of his stomach, more painful than his chest, and he felt warm hands on his face.

"Can you raise your head for me, sir?" the Doctor asked, and it was a bit of a struggle, but he managed, peering up into the _gentle_ features of the young man as he leaned forward and carefully eased the last scraps of Toshinori's shirt and tie from his shoulders, sliding them down his arms. The man's eyes were quick in raking down his torso, and the Hero couldn't help but want to hide the ruin of his chest from those eyes. They lingered, but that was it, examining him thoroughly from head to hip, his expression not changing a jot.

Toshinori coughed again, easier now, his fit seemingly have run its course, or his diaphragm no longer capable of launching the remains of his left lung up his oesophagus when his body mistakenly assumed he was drowning on it.

"I'm fine," he rasped to the Doctor, catching one of those warm hands in his own, dwarfing it entirely in his palm.

"Respectfully sir, bullshit," the young man told him flatly before gently guiding him into sitting upright, and crouching between his legs to get better access to his chest. "But at least you can speak and breathe now. What's your name, and date of birth?" Doctor Potter asked as he slipped his hand free of Toshinori's grasp and began to probe the horrible chest wound.

"Y-Yagi Toshinori, June tenth, twenty-one hundred," he rasped, grimacing and fighting not to flinch away from the young Doctor's touch on such a tender and _vulnerable_ part of his body.

"Mm, you're younger than I thought you were, Yagi-san, you haven't been taking care of yourself," he observed absent mindedly. The Pro-Hero grimaced and glanced down to frown at the young man who wasn't even _looking_ at him as he carefully examined the rest of the blond's chest, muttering under his breath as he did so. A few words caught his ears, but without One for All active his hearing was fairly average, so only a few bits and pieces were audible. Like the fact that the young Doctor had already concluded he had very little left lung to speak of, his rib-cage was little more than floating bone shards at this juncture, and his musculature on that side was equally as damaged and twisted up.

Up close... He was as pretty as Toshinori had first thought. Prettier even, now, without the scowl. Long dark hair tied back out of the way, high-cheek bones, large sharp green eyes, a petite nose and mouth, there was a jagged scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt, and he filled the lines of his black three-piece suit nicely. Though right now he was looking much more relaxed, and dishevelled with his sleeves pushed back, the black tie he wore earlier missing, and both his grey waistcoat and trousers covered in Toshinori's blood. Not that the young man seemed to notice, right now he was in the process of using some of the tea-towels procured from the restaurant to clean up the blood he had managed to vomit all over himself.

"What medication are you on for your lung?" the Doctor asked, taking his wrist and beginning to count.

Breath rattling in his lungs, Toshinori dutifully recited the entire list of drugs he had been given by Recovery Girl, faltering a little when he caught the darkening expression on the young man's face.

"Quirk healing enhancers," he explained when he caught the look on the blond's face, "Meaning that they haven't been giving you medication to help with _your_ condition, but rather to facilitate _their_ ability to tend to you. Idiots," he complained tiredly, "Let me guess, the Support officers on attachment to your Hero Office?" he asked.

He nodded, a little offended on Recovery Girl's behalf but...

The young Doctor nodded, "Well, we'll give you a full check up when we get to the Hospital, your current regimen is clearly _not_ working as well as it should if you're vomiting parts of your internal organs out in the middle of your dinner," he declared as he got to his feet and began to clean his hands as best he could on one of the tea-towels. He then offered Toshinori a warm smile, "I'll see about getting you something to eat as well when we get there. Won't be as nice as this, but it'll be hot and filling at the very least," he said kindly.

Was this how people felt when _he_ smiled at them, Toshinori wondered with a small lurch. Unable to stop the small surge of bashful warmth in him as his mouth twitched into a reluctant smile. "That... sounds nice. Thank you, Doctor."

"Ambulance is here, I take it our meeting will have to wait until tomorrow morning?" someone said from the otherside of the privacy dividers.

Doctor Potter turned his head with a small grimace, "Sorry Naomasa-kun," he said.

"Don't worry about it, Potsu-sensei. Rain check for seven? That should give us enough time to go through your testimony," the voice of the person offered.

"Mm, thank you for your hard work. I'll see you then," the Doctor agreed.

"Ah, don't forget your jacket, or papers," Naomasa-san suddenly said, "Uh oh, the restaurant owner is here. I'll deal with this, you focus on our patient there."

Doctor Potter swore quietly under his breath as a jacket was placed onto the booth chairs opposite them along with a number of familiar files from earlier this morning. Toshinori stared at them in a helpless kind of bewilderment.

So this really was the same young man he'd saved earlier. He had wondered.

Doctor Potter had been very kind and gentle with him, professional, and soothing while tending to him, focused entirely on his health, well-being and comfort. Where as earlier, he had been standoffish, rude, prickly, and snappish, treating All Might's assistance as little more than a nuisance or an inconvenience to be dismissed as quickly as possible. The blond had been wondering for a while if the two were perhaps brothers, or one of those rare instances of doppelgängers that sometimes popped up. But no. He was evidentially just as two-faced as Toshinori himself.

He wiped some blood from his chin, smiling painfully, at least both of those faces were pretty nice to look at.

 _ **000**_

Young Ingenium's mobile support team arrived with the ambulance, ensuring they reached their destination at the maximum speed and safety. It was a service Toshinori knew that the young hero sometimes provided if he ever saw emergency services rushing to a location. Still, it was somewhat embarrassing to have so many people fussing over him. Embarrassing, and a little overwhelming. He had never actually been on the receiving end of this treatment, despite the many times he had dropped people off. It was definitely an experience.

A very interesting one given how almost all the paramedics, apparently familiar with the green eyed man, immediately differed to Doctor Potter (whom they called Potsu-sensei – hehe, Doctor Pots sounded quite cute actually) who marched through them coordinating them and arranging monitoring equipment, contacting the hospital while they got Toshinori loaded up and comfortable. After so many years of being All Might _all_ the time, it was still somewhat strange to him to be surrounded by people who weren't star-struck, and staring up at him. To _talk_ with people, instead of at them. To have a pretty Doctor smile at him and not have a thousand cameras go off at the same time. To smile back and not have every woman within hearing range squeal. To be spoken to as if he were just another person on the street, paramedics bustling around him, smiling and professional as they referred to him as 'Yagi-san', asking him politely but firmly to do this and that, explaining what they were doing and why they were, rather than just assuming he already knew, asking if he needed help doing anything even sitting up, instead of just assuming he didn't need the aid.

It was... humbling. In a strange way, he realised as they rode to the hospital.

Doctor Potter was discussing something over the phone, the words complex and filled with jargon that he only _somewhat_ understood – he was no idiot, but his medical knowledge was very basic, he left it in the hands of professionals so he could go out and find more people in need. The paramedics were cheerful and friendly, keeping him talking even with the oxygen mask over his mouth and – good _gracious_ , he felt almost _high_. As if he were floating.

"That's just your brain finally getting the oxygen it needed, Yagi-san," one of the medics explained with a smile when he mentioned it, "With only one lung functioning your blood isn't being oxygenated well enough. You'll be feeling a little giddy and light-headed for a while until you adapt again," she explained as she adjusted the heat packs they had layered around his chest to ease the cramping of his twisted muscles which they concluded was the cause of his sudden attack in the restaurant.

"Oh," he realised.

That certainly explained why he felt so sluggish for so long after his injury.

 _ **000**_

He had never actually been to a civilian hospital before, as a patient or even as a hero. It just wasn't something he'd done. It was very different from the Hero staffed establishments that supported the various offices because even here people were prohibited from using their Quirks, with only a small handful of registered exceptions. He was entirely in the hands of modern medicine, and it was a little intimidating to be honest.

He had been wheeled into Accident and Emergency, the paramedics immediately transferring him into Major Injuries as Doctor Pots had performed his diagnostics in the restaurant and drive over, he promptly vanished when they arrived with a gaggle of jade green dressed nurses with clipboards, dictating something at high-speed as he waved a pair of fingers in Toshinori's direction. The universal gesture for 'two minutes'. Leaving him in a large room, filled with bleeping machines, alarms, his bed set into a curtained off booth, a pretty young lady hooking him up to various monitors with a smile and a kind word as she worked.

All around him were men and women in various states both not good to rather bad. On the otherside of the nurse's station in front of his booth he could see a gentleman of advanced years with his daughter sat next to him, his face was a bloody mess, and his stomach had an eight-inch slash through it, stitches and glue catching the light as his wife bore down on one of the nurses, pointing to the injury with a scowl. What he could hear suggested that she felt they had used the wrong kind of stitches and didn't think very highly of their hygiene practices either – apparently the individual that stitched her husband shut had _blown_ on the glue to dry it faster with his mouth. Toshinori didn't _quite_ understand the problem with that, but given how furious the woman was, and how the nurse was instantly apologetic instead of stand-offish suggested that it was a legitimate complaint to be made. There was a male voice in the booth next to him groaning, and he could smell blood and vomit in the air mixing with the tang of drugs and cleaning chemicals. An old woman was wheeled past on a bed, her face a bruised and bloody mess as she sobbed weakly to the male nurse pushing her along that she wanted to see her son, when was he getting there.

It was both heartbreaking, and terrifying for Toshinori who had _never_ set foot into an A&E ward before in his life. He continued to sit quietly, in anxious discomfort as his neighbour vomited painfully next to him, until Doctor Pots returned, sans suit, cleaned up and wearing the familiar blue scrubs and white coat of a doctor. It was almost _surreal_ to see him march through the room, swanning into the nurses' station and get _swarmed_ by men and women with clipboards. Within seconds the organised chaos of the room smoothed out even further as he directed people, answered questions, overlooked papers, and listened to explanations. Calmly and efficiently handling each and every one of them without giving the impression of rushing or hurrying them along, it was _almost_ like seeing himself in the field being swarmed by other pros and members of the press for this, that, and the other reason.

And then he reached Toshinori.

"Sorry about the delay in getting back to you, Yagi-san, how are you feeling?" the Doctor asked kindly as he drew the privacy curtains around his little stall.

Toshinori waved a hand, "That's quite alright, sensei. And I'm perfectly fine, or about as can be expected. There's no need for all this fuss," he explained guiltily, "Surely there's someone else who needs this bed more than I?" If he were in his All Might form he wouldn't even be _having_ this discussion.

The doctor snorted a little as he began to check the monitoring equipment and make a few notes on his own clipboard, "You and I have very different definitions of the word 'alright', Yagi-san," he pointed out with another one of those smiles that made Toshinori's stomach curl a little. "Humour me, would you please?" he begged a little.

Toshinori floundered for a moment, "There's... really no need to fuss," he muttered bashfully.

"You were vomiting blood across the table," the Doctor reminded him with a raised eyebrow and folded arms, smiling wryly at him, "I would be _very_ bad at my job if I didn't count that as a cause for concern. And an awful human being as well." The blond flustered a little, but subsided into his bedding unable to think of a good excuse to get him out of this situation without revealing his alter-ego, which... _okay_ he kind of wanted to do, just a little, to maybe impress Doctor Pots. But he had used up what time he had in the day, if he tried to push it now, he would hork up more blood than he could afford and pass out – Recovery Girl had promised to do something irreversible if he did that again, so he was trying to behave himself.

"If you're willing to be patient, we're just going to run you through a few tests to get a clear idea of the total damage done to your chest. Nothing strenuous. And once that's done, I believe I promised to take you to the cafeteria for something to eat," the Doctor declared as he began to unhook Toshinori from his monitors.

"Oh – you don't have to – "

"I want to," the Doctor said with a warm smile.

 _ **000**_

Yagi-san was nice company, Harry decided, had decided during their trip back to the hospital in the ambulance, keeping half an eye on the progressively oxygen high former Hero. Unable to stop his lips from twitching the more the man chattered to the paramedics, genuinely interested in what they had to say, and amiable in the same way he would have thought an old man was, despite barely being into his early-fourties. He was surprisingly meek though, the Doctor had noticed, easily overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the emergency room and major injuries ward. Those lovely blue eyes of his wide with trepidation as he practically huddled in his bed and tried to take up as little space as possible, keep out of the way as much as he could – it was endearing, if impossible for a seven foot tall sunflower.

It took a _little_ convincing, but they managed to get the man into X-ray, and even managed to run several other tests, all of which confirmed what Harry had already concluded just from his cursory examination of the man back at the restaurant.

His left lung was only _partially_ existent, the upper half of it anyway. It had already seen some extensive reconstructive surgeries done to it, but the healing edges were frayed and damaged as if they kept being _burst_ open before they could regain their elasticity. Not a good sign. He had pretty much no stomach to speak of, it had been reconstructed as best it could be, but it was absolutely miniscule, and was just as 'burst' damaged as his lungs. The pancreas was only half-present, much like his stomach it too had been partially destroyed.

He would have to pass this on to one of his colleagues. He wasn't a gastroenterologist, nor a pulmonary medicine physician, and thinking about it, he should probably get someone from rheumatology involved as well, that kind of muscular damage would be bound to have further issues. He sighed, dragging a hand through his hair as he made his way back to Yagi-san's cubicle, the poor man was an utter mess, and already the level of care he was receiving from his Hero office was a detriment to him. Oh, Harry was certain they were doing their best, the problem with Hero Support was that they relied _far_ too much on their Quirks, and very rarely stopped to think of traditional modern medicine being useful. Already plans were racing through Harry's mind for medications, treatments, surgical procedures that could see Yagi-san actually able to regain enough of his former good health to go _back_ to Hero Work, if that was what he desired.

"You look like you're thinking hard, Doctor," Yagi-san greeted from his bed, looking a little more relaxed than before.

Harry jolted a little out of his thoughts before laughing a little sheepishly, "Ah, sorry. Just contemplating a few things, as well as your test results. Shall I get you out of those wires? I believe I promised you something to eat as well."

Harry told himself that this wasn't a date, he had practically kidnapped the man from a restaurant in an ambulance. It _wasn't_ a date. It would be highly unprofessional to date a patient – which was why he would wait until he could hand Yagi-san's case over before taking the man out _properly_ , if he would allow it of course.

He might have been just as interested as Harry himself, but that didn't mean he was in a position to date.

 _ **000**_

Toshinori didn't have much chance to eat with people, or even to socialise with people. He... was very _happy_ right now, he realised as he laughed at the story Doctor Pots was telling him about an incident at his school where his friend's brothers triggered a trap Quirk laid by a teacher and ended up growing full-length beards.

They had gone down to the hospital ground floor where various gift shops, and restaurants lined the walls. The doctor exchanged a few words with one of the young ladies behind the counter, and a moment later, Toshinori was presented with a large bowl of vegetable soup, and a single thick wedge of fluffy white bread. ' _I hope it isn't presumptuous of me, but your stomach was highly irritated from your episode earlier. This is probably the only thing on the menu that isn't going to trigger another one,_ ' the doctor had explained when they sat down, a bowl of soup on his tray as well. In truth, Toshinori had been touched by the forethought and assured him it was alright, very few people stopped to consider how bad his _stomach_ was whenever they found out about his bad lung.

He shared a few stories of his own while he was at UA, keeping just whom he was a secret, explaining how his teacher had single-mindedly set him to training until he threw up nearly every day. Before then quickly having to defend both Gran Torino _and_ UA's training methods from a very disapproving and angry paediatric surgeon.

He huffed a small laugh at the green eyed young man as he grumbled and glared at the far wall in frustration, he was so passionate and hot headed about the welfare of others, it was quite charming. There was a lot of personality contained in such a small person, he couldn't help but be interested, or stop his eyes from skimming down what little of his body that could be seen in the not-so flattering hospital scrubs and coat.

Green eyes flicked up, and he twitched, flushing at being caught in the act of eyeing him up.

The doctor merely smirked, but didn't tease him, instead he straightened up and complained about how Toshinori was _obviously_ biased towards his alma mater, too much to see bad teaching practices when they were in front of him at any rate.

Eager to deflect his embarrassment, the Pro-hero jumped on the subject and protested valiantly.

 _ **000**_

Two days later, after his impromptu trip to the emergency room, Toshinori showed up to work and found a bit of a furore occurring around the reception desk on the top floor.

"What's this? Is everything alright, girls?" he asked in concern, quickly shuffling his way over to where Kaede-chan and Yue-chan were being swarmed by several girls from throughout the building. Including even Mokoto-chan from the cleaning team, and Nami-chan from the cafe on the second floor. Giggles immediately broke out amongst them as he approached, and Yue quickly began to usher them all off. Cheery calls and greetings were exchanged, all of the lovely ladies bidding him a good morning – it sometimes surprised him at just how well received he was throughout the tower, especially given his poor health and sickly appearance.

"Everything's fine, Yagi-san. You just had a delivery," Kaede-chan explained with a wicked glint to her eye, gesturing to...

Toshinori's eyes widened, "Oh my... Who on earth would have sent..."

Sunflowers.

A small bouquet of sunflowers in a tall vase, tied together with yellow ribbon and a number of decorative leafy plant cuts. Kaede handed him a small card with a smile and an eager twinkle in her eye.

' _I truly enjoyed your company several days ago, and wondered if you would like to have dinner with me again? Your choice, no pressure. -Harry_ '

Toshinori felt his face beginning to burn.

Doctor Potter had sent him flowers, and asked him out to dinner? _Him_?

He... he didn't think he had _ever_ been on a date before, not since his UA days at least. Should he say yes? Should he say no? What did one even wear on a date these days, what was the etiquette? Toshinori could barely remember dating as a teenager, he had absolutely no idea how to go about it now he was in his forties. He – he flushed crimson as he turned beseeching eyes up onto the young ladies manning the desk.

"I – I think I need a little help, ladies."

 _ **000**_

He could do this, he could, he was ready.

Toshinori swallowed nervously, adjusting his grip on the small bunch of flowers. It had taken him a bit of time on google to figure out which ones were best at the recommendation of Hana-chan from the twenty-first floor. Since Doctor Pots – Harry rather, he had signed the card with his first name, that meant it was okay to use, right? Since _Harry_ had made the first move by sending him sunflowers, which meant happiness, good luck, and warmth according to her, it was alright for him to return the thought, if not expected. So, after some flustered tapping of his phone, he found a florist shop that would have the flowers he wanted, nothing too extreme. He had a single thornless pale pink rose, which meant joy and love at first sight, a bit cheeky of him, but he _had_ been enchanted with the fiery doctor that was perfectly willing to throw him into moving traffic in order to get at his fallen paperwork, surrounded by a handful of white gardenia, which meant something along the lines of 'you're lovely'. And he was. No one had ever given him flowers, as Toshinori _or_ All Might.

He had asked all the girls in the tower for advice, several of the men he knew were on the dating scene (he shyly asked a few of the married men as well, and got what was probably _better_ advice, but he wasn't going to be telling young Chiba-kun that, he had been so happy to help), and even though they were all very kind and helped him to the best of their abilities, of course. He still... he was still a little nervous, so he went and got a dummy's guide to dating the other day, and probably stayed up a bit later than he should have reading through and ear-marking various pages for reference later.

A lot of it was female/male specific, but there were a few very helpful chapters about same-sex dating that were good, even if he very nearly vomited blood all over it at some of the more _explicit_ material (and if he ear-marked that as well, no one but him would be knowing about it).

He wrung his hands a little, tugging on his sleeves nervously. When he had exchanged business cards with Harry, he had never once dreamed that it could lead him to actually going on a date with the young man in question, but here he was, stood next to the fountain they had agreed as a meeting point. He hoped he wasn't over-dressed, he hadn't been sure what was appropriate so had probably broken some form of rule and asked Harry himself if he should be getting dressed up. The Doctor said casual but warm, so he had decided to wear some of his work slacks – truthfully one of the few pieces of clothing that fit him in his current state, everything else was All Might sized – and a thick red turtle-neck under his tan coat.

He had his wallet, phone, and keys in his pockets, and he had slipped that oh so important dummy's guide into his back pocket, just in case he needed to speed away into the gentlemens' lavatory to check something. He was _so_ nervous.

"Yagi-san, I hope I didn't keep you waiting," Harry greeted, making the blond jolt and spit blood, "Ah, are you alright? Sit down!" Toshinori blushed in utter mortification as he quickly found himself perched on the edge of the fountain, the doctor crouched in front of him, pressing a handkerchief into his hands.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, you startled me is all. It's nothing," he coughed, dabbing his mouth and chin clean.

"Ahh, you've been pushing yourself again, haven't you?" the doctor complained, rocking back onto his heels and running a hand through his fringe.

"Perhaps," Toshinori admitted sheepishly, sitting up carefully and getting a proper look at his date for the first time. Long legs clad in loose washed out blue jeans, heavy black boots, and a thick black leather motorbike jacket, his long hair was in a lower horsetail and hanging over one shoulder, and he had a large heavy backpack over one shoulder. He wore glasses too, simple black frames perched on the end of his nose as he rested his chin on his hand, elbow braced on a knee as he crouched in front of him. He was _very_ different to the suited intellectual looking man Toshinori had met before now.

He suddenly remembered the flowers, and turned dark red, "Uhm, these – are for you," he muttered, awkwardly presenting the small bunch to him, "Since you sent me those lovely sunflowers, I thought it would be remiss of me not to return the gesture, and..." he trailed off awkwardly.

He peeked up and was rewarded with the totally unguarded expression of surprise and delight on the doctor's face as he carefully accepted the small offering. "You didn't have to – I didn't expect – thank you," he finally said smiling.

Toshinori beamed, "I'm glad you like them."

 _ **000**_

Harry took him to a small cafe that did made to order smoothies and milkshakes, the entire wall of the cafe was dominated with tubs of icecream, chocolate, fruits, and had a large board of ingredients and drinks set above rows and rows of blenders. The room was fairly chilled, hence why Harry told him to dress warmly, and filled with people laughing and chatting with the radio playing in the background. The smell of chocolate sauce and fruit filled the air as Harry lead him in.

"Hm, surprisingly busy tonight," the doctor observed as they stepped into line, peering around at the teenagers.

Toshinori was the one that spotted the sports bags and such, "Ah, highschool sports students. It is getting towards that time of year where they have the Winter championships in various tournaments," he explained as he discreetly pointed to a few of the kit bags the children had tucked under their tables and chairs.

"They'll probably get a bit noisy then. Do you want to sit in, or take out?" Harry asked peering up at him.

The blond paused, a little nervous, what should he say? Was Harry trying to suggest they go somewhere more private? Did he just not like teenagers? Toshinori didn't actually mind sitting in, it was kind of nice seeing the youth of today being able to _act_ their age, to relax in safety, knowing that this was what he went out every day to protect from villains and criminals. But he didn't want to make Harry upset by forcing him to stay in a room where he might be uncomfortable, or just tired of dealing with teenagers whom he probably had enough of during the day -

The doctor nudged him smiling slightly, "Calm down, Yagi-san. I just wanted to know if you were comfortable in such a noisy environment given how you seemed a little overwhelmed the last time at A&E," he explained soothingly. And immediately Toshinori felt himself flush in embarrassment, and a little affection at the realisation the doctor had noticed, and even _cared_.

"Eat in, if that's alright with you," he managed to say just as the line moved them to the desk.

Harry ordered one of the fruit smoothies first to give Toshinori enough time to quickly look over the menu before he placed his own order. They made some small talk as they waited for their order, Toshinori telling him about the reaction his sunflowers had gotten at the office, completely oblivious to the wicked glint that appeared briefly in the Doctor's eye.

It seemed to be going well, until Harry took a sip of his drink and immediately grimaced.

"What's wrong?" Toshinori asked mind immediately thinking the worst, what if he'd been poisoned? Did these people know he was really All Might? What Villain set up shop in a smoothie bar?

"...grapefruit," the doctor complained quietly, swallowing his mouthful with a little difficulty as they sat down, hand over his mouth. "Sorry, I _really_ don't like grapefruit," he admitted with a laugh as he set his drink to one side.

"Why not tell them and get another?" the Pro-Hero asked, watching as the doctor shook his head, smiling a little.

"It'll get lodged as a complaint, even if it was just a little incident. It's just a drink, I came here for the company more than anything," he added with a grin as Toshinori promptly went red.

"Are you trying to make me blush?" he demanded plaintively.

"Very much so," the doctor admitted smugly and without shame.

In that case.

"How do you feel about apple and banana?" the Hero asked, changing the subject entirely and making the doctor pause with the seeming disconnect.

"I – quite like them?" he asked suspiciously.

"Good. Because I quite like grapefruit," he announced before swapping their drinks with a grin. Harry laughed, unable to say anything as he nodded and gracefully accepted his defeat.

"Doctor Pots? It _is_ you!" a young voice interrupted, taking the two of them aback as they turned to see one of the teenagers stood in front of their table.

Harry blinked and leaned back, "Ah, Fuji-kun, fancy meeting you here," he greeted, just as surprised as the teenager apparently was. He then narrowed his eyes, "How's your ankle, have you been keeping off it like I _told_ you to?" he demanded sharply, leaning forward in his seat like a predator. Toshinori couldn't help but grin a little behind his pilfered drink watching the exchange between short-tempered doctor and flustered naughty school boy.

Much like him, even if they weren't in uniform, their work was never over.

 _ **000**_

In short order, their date was taken over by Midori High's soccer team clamouring around their table, the moment young Fuji's senpai learned that their second year star player had been forced to go to the hospital for an ankle injury that was _that_. The whole team was in an uproar, combined with Harry's own temper, poor Fuji-kun was relegated to the bench for the foreseeable future, being given strict instructions on food, exercise, and even what kind of shoes and socks he should be wearing until he was fully recovered. Then of course came the questions about what the doctor was even doing there when they were pretty certain he lived in the hospital (Toshinori was not going to acknowledge how flattered that comment made him, that the workaholic would hang his coat up to spend time with him, absolutely _not_ ), then there was a second uproar about the date, their age, their jobs – and the moment they found out that Toshinori worked for _All Might Hero Offices_ , he was unanimously considered the coolest person ever and the team wouldn't leave them alone.

It was very tiring, but also one of the nicest evenings out he'd had in a long time. (And if Toshinori wrote out enough All Might personalised signatures for each member of the team wishing them luck in their club activities, well, they were good boys – he was kind of waiting for the complete freak outs online when they received them, seeing how happy something as small as a signature could make someone was honestly one of the more enjoyable things about being a Pro-Hero.)

He walked Harry back to his motorbike, trying not to be surprised by the fact that he _had_ one because he _really_ didn't seem the type – revealing that the reason his backpack was so big and heavy was because he kept his black helmet inside. He turned down the offer of the lift back to his flat, as much as he kind of _did_ want to accept, the security risks... ' _Maybe another time,_ ' he suggested with a smile before the doctor bade him goodnight and went off.

In truth, Toshinori should have probably expected it. Should _definitely_ have expected it after witnessing the man's absolutely remorseless sense of humour the previous evening when he, what was the term, ' _roasted_ ' the Midori boys.

In a repeat of the sunflower incident, Toshinori walked into the top-floor reception to a horde of women clustered around the desk, all cooing and giggling and squealing.

There were two bouquets waiting for him when the ladies parted to let him in, the smaller one of colourful carnations specifically addressed to ' _the lovely ladies helping Yagi in his day to day – thank you for taking care of him_ ', Toshinori promptly went pink and realised that was why there were so many women up here today – each of them with a little flower pinned to their blazers, or tucked into their hair.

The other bouquet was for him specifically, and three times larger than the one before hand.

' _Am I making you blush yet?_ ', no name. No _need_ for a name.

Little _shit_.

 _ **000**_

For the whole day Toshinori had to put up with the good natured teasing and ribbing, the genuine congratulations, and of course the questions. All throughout it, he plotted his revenge, or rather, their next date. Because this was going to take some topping (yes it had become a competition, Pro Heroes were naturally competitive, and Harry was an utterly cheeky little bastard and Toshinori would make him swoon or so help him – ).

The date he had covered, one of the girls mentioned that the Cat Cafe down the road had recently gotten a litter of kittens. Toshinori liked it there, but out of respect for Kaede-chan who was allergic, he didn't go very often for risk of bringing dander back that could trigger an asthma attack. They did very good cakes and shortbreads, he quite liked their milkshakes as well which meant he could have something while Harry had solid food as well if he wanted – Toshinori _hadn't_ noticed that the smoothie bar was probably for his benefit until Yue-chan cooed about how considerate his date had been in selecting where to go.

Toshinori now had to invite him, but he didn't want to do it over a phonecall. Oh no, for that bouquet of flowers, he wanted to make this loud and _embarrassingly_ sappy for the Doctor. Delivering flowers to him at the hospital was a no as he was a member of staff, working in the childrens' A&E guaranteed that any flower deliveries to him wouldn't make it past the receptionist desk due to the risk of pollen, allergens, and other risks to the little ones with open wounds, bad immune systems, etc, etc. And sadly that was the only address he had for the doctor. A quick _phonecall_ provided him with the good doctor's shift hours though (he may have told a little bit of a white lie, but it was a good idea and he might follow through with it later with Harry's permission, a visit to the childrens' ward as All Might would really brighten their day, he felt). And with that he was able to plan his revenge.

Was this giddy excitement how villains felt, he wondered?

 _ **000**_

"Sorry to interrupt, call for you, Potsu-sensei," Tsubame-san announced, poking her head into the recovery stall of his last patient of the day as he was detailing the nine year old's test results to her concerned parents.

"Thank you, I'll be out in a minute." She watched as the foreigner knelt beside the little girl's chair and patted her head, "Remember what I said about swallowing strange things, Tsuyu-chan?" the little frog-like girl nodded meekly, "Good girl. Make sure she takes the liquid anti-inflammatories, and sticks to cold drinks for the near future and she should be fine," he said to her parents as he got to his feet.

After a few handshakes, and words with her parents, he left the room and headed for the nurses' station where Aiko was holding a phone out for him, she mouthed ' _Main reception_ ' to him as he collected it.

"Doctor Potter speaking," he spoke.

" _We have a delivery waiting for you at the front desk, seems to be personal rather than professional, your signature is required though,_ " the young lady explained with a cheery sounding voice.

"Alright, I'll be down in ten minutes. May as well pick it up on my way out. In a bit," he said, waiting for her confirmation before hanging up. "It's about that time, ladies. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Biding his small team goodnight, he made his way to the locker room where he got changed and collected his phone, bag, boots, and helmet ready to go home, dumped his scrubs into the laundry, and gave himself a quick spritz with some deodorant. He checked it, as always, and sighed at the lack of message from Yagi-san. He had written his mobile number down on their last date so they could text and call each other but he had yet to receive anything from the sunny blond. Had his indulgence of the Midori boys ruined his chances?

Tucking the phone into his jacket pocket, he left the locker room and made his way towards the main reception. Usually he would duck out through C-floor's blood wing as the lifts down to the carpark where he usually parked his bike were closer, it was also quieter and he had less chance of outraged parents stopping him on the way out to demand why he wasn't in the A&E taking care of their child. He understood their concerns, but even doctors and nurses had set working hours, for their _own_ health and wellbeing. When his time was up, he had to be strict with himself and _leave_ otherwise he would end up pulling another forty-eight hour shift and receive an official disciplinary for putting patients' wellbeing at risk through negligence. The last thing he wanted to do was put a child at risk because he was so tired he fucked up.

He made his way through the ground floor to the main reception, past gift shops, the restaurants, seating areas, the line of phone booths used to call taxis and family members, a small childrens' play area, before he reached the main desk, laughing a little at the huge display of red, yellow, and orange flowers across it, and the harassed delivery driver next to it. And he _did_ look harassed, likely due to the number of nurses and members of the cleaning team clustered around him cooing over the flowers and giggling. Which was a little unusual thinking about it, they got a ridiculous number of flowers delivered every day to the point where people just learned to blank them out unless they were refusing to let them into various wards. Perhaps it was the size of the bouquet that made it so noteworthy.

"I don't think the maternity or recovery wards have bedside tables big enough for something like that," he observed with a grin as he eyed the massive thing. Yellow and red roses, red camellias, those lovely multicoloured tulips that went from yellow to orange and even red, decorative ferns, and little white gardenias to highlight. All tied together with a large red ribbon.

One of the receptionist girls laughed, "Oh that won't be a problem. They're for you, Potsu-sensei."

He paused, tilting his head, "Me?" he repeated, frowning before looking up at them. It was – no one would send him – wait.

He burst out laughing, much to the delighted bewilderment of his colleagues who, until this moment, had been under the impression he was such a workaholic he neither had a personal life, _or_ a love life.

Touché, Yagi-san, touché.

He signed for the delivery, still snickering, and read through the little card attached to the delivery, date, time, and location with a question mark and a cat's paw. God that man was adorable. And an utter pain in the ass. Harry peered up at the huge bouquet that actually stood higher than his head now it was in his arms.

He was going to have to walk home with this.

 _ **000**_

Hospitals never sleep, so it didn't take long at _all_ for word to spread about Harry receiving such a huge floral display. By the time he came in the next day, his entire department knew he had a love life, _and_ exactly what flowers he had received. He had been _fully_ prepared for the utter shit-eating grins to appear when he walked in, and if he returned them with a very smug smirk of his own, it just made the morning that much more amusing. After all, he didn't see any of _them_ getting huge ass bouquets of flowers.

The only downside was the sly comments that got thrown his way every now and again, he didn't quite understand _why_ Aiko was singing under her breath when he passed ' _You are a flame in my heart_ ', or even Sachi stopping dead in front of him while he was eating his lunch in one of the break rooms, getting right in his face with a squint, before clapping a hand on his shoulder with a heavy sigh and a complaint of ' _you really do have beautiful eyes, you bastard_ ' before she left. A few of the male nurses looked a bit confused as well, but it wasn't until he overheard Satoshi and Kota commenting on how it must have been a flower thing did he realise.

Flower language.

His aunt had been obsessed with it when he was small, but he had kind of blanked all knowledge of the art out of his mind largely due to trauma and a desire to forget that period of his life had ever even happened. But regardless, the Japanese took flower arranging very seriously, there were like... three thousand different Ikebana arts all with their own subtle meanings where shifting a flower or a twig half an inch lower in angle could completely change the meaning of the piece.

Checking google when he got home provided the answers, and he – well he didn't think his face had been this red since he was twelve and listening to a 'singing telegram' belting out a poorly written valentines day song to him in front of all his friends.

Variegated tulips, the multicoloured ones, meant ' _beautiful eyes_ ', which explained Sachi-chan's comment in the break room. Red camellias, help him, translated literally into ' _you're a flame in my heart_ ', and didn't he nearly have a heart attack when he read that – did-could Yagi-san know about his past? He worked at the All Might offices, if any hero would have access to that kind of information then it would be that guy. Roses, god, the yellow ones meant joy and friendship, and red traditionally meant love and respect. The decorative ferns, which he had at first thought were just space fillers, apparently meant fascination, confidence and shelter. And gardenia stood for ' _You're lovely_ ', or secret love.

Harry had just sent him flowers that he liked the look of, he hadn't been aware that Yagi-san knew flower language. Holy shit, what had he been _saying_ to the man?

Oh shit. What _**had**_ he been saying to the man?

 _ **000**_

Toshinori knew he'd hit pay dirt when he received the text, he might have been in the middle of Hero work dealing with reporters when it went off, and he would _forever_ be a little embarrassed at the goddamn frame by frame break down of his facial expression when he read that single word text and grinned all the brighter for it but...

' _Fucker_ '

His day was made with that single word.

 _ **000**_

"You're a complete and utter shit, and I know nothing about the flower language," Harry announced when Toshinori showed up for their second date. But he was smiling, so the blond could do nothing but laugh a little helplessly in the face of the accusation.

A single yellow tulip was shoved under his nose in short order before the horribly blushing young man turned on heel to pick up his bike helmet from where he had set it on the ground.

It took Toshinori a minute to remember, but yellow tulip – _there's sunshine in your smile_.

He melted.

It wasn't one of the big bouquets designed to embarrass him, to make as big a fuss as possible to show how much he cared, it was a small little thing, more intimate and thoughtful because of it. Carefully, he tucked the flower into the button hole of his jacket, blushing happily as he watched the doctor who was pointedly not looking at him, well aware of what he had done, and thoroughly embarrassed by it now as well. And as much as Toshinori now wanted to kiss him, it was a bit soon. Instead, he caught the doctor's hand and laced their fingers together, smiling brightly.

"Shall we go? It's just around the corner," he explained feeling Harry's grip on his hand tightening a little as he pulled his bag on properly, still a little flushed, but now smiling.

"Sure."

The small cafe was brightly lit, warm, and had two doors leading in to prevent any of their furry escape-masters from getting out. It had polished pinewood floors, low cushions and stools, the walls were covered in shelves and tubes and boxes for the cats, and the floor and tables were littered with cat toys everywhere. Several of the girls grinned when they saw them walk in.

"Yagi-san! You've been gone forever! I counted!" one of the younger girls with multicoloured hair exclaimed happily, rushing over to hug him, "Ara? Who's this?" she asked beaming at Harry, spotting their joined hands that Toshinori very pointedly tightened his grip on before the doctor could think about pulling away.

"This is Potter Harry," Toshinori introduced smiling brightly at her as he patted her back. Junko was always so lively and happy, "You've changed your hair colour again I see."

"Yep, the blue was getting a bit old. So I thought – pink, orange, and purple! How's it look?" she asked happily, bouncing backwards, somehow managing to dance her feet around the variety of felines that had already made their way over to investigate the newcomers, and did a twirl for them, her multicoloured hair and skirts swishing with the motion.

"Very nice," Toshinori praised.

"The purple brings out your eyes," Harry added and Junko positively _beamed_ at him.

"Oh I like him, you should bring him more often. Your usual seat?" she asked as she hustled several of the cats around to let the two of them in a little more easily.

"Ah," Toshi began to protest as usually he sat by himself, but, before he could even begin to request a different table, Choko appeared with a second chair to plunk down for him, winking in his direction as she did so. Junko laughed and scooped up one of the cats as she twisted around them.

"Way ahead of you, Toshi-kun," the chubby young woman assured him as he lead his date to his usual seat, blushing happily as he did so. "Nice to meet you, Potteru-san. And you, you need to come more often!" she added, swatting Toshinori with one of the menus even as she handed the other one to Harry, "You've lost weight again!"

The Pro-Hero quickly slithered out of his coat and took his seat, shoulders hunched in embarrassment as the girls _loudly_ fussed over him.

"Ahh-aaah!" Junko wailed from the coffee counter behind the till, her lavender coloured eyes widening as she jumped up to lean over the table, "Toshi! I thought we talked about that!" she exclaimed.

Harry laughed at him, "You're well loved," he observed with a grin as he stripped out of his leather jacket.

"Hard not to love, Toshi-kun, he's a big ol' softie that you just wanna wrap up in cotton wool and feed cookies to," Choko laughed as she boldly leaned over to hug Toshinori's head with one arm, not that she had to lean far given his height.

The blond blushed as Harry laughingly agreed with the owner of the cafe.

"You guys get comfortable, I'll be back in a minute to take your order," Choko said cheerfully as she bustled off, stepping over one of the cats as it made its ponderous way over – and promptly jumped into Harry's seat before the doctor could take it.

There was a pause as Harry stared down at the feline now stretching itself out contentedly on his chair, getting comfortable, and then staring up at him with that particular brand of feline disdain, practically daring him to do something about it. Toshinori had to put a hand over his mouth to hide his grin as the two continued to stare at each other challengingly. Miskit was perhaps one of the most stubborn cats here at the cafe, and she took particular pleasure in stealing seats until she got to know someone and where they liked to sit when they came in.

Miskit blinked slowly, and Harry sighed.

And then in a completely unexpected move, the doctor turned to Toshinori, pulled one of his arms aside, and sat on his leg. "She's too cute. I can't move her," he complained with a glare at the rather smug looking feline who started licking herself in victory. "I hope you don't mind," he added as an after-thought, stiffening a little as if he just realised that perhaps something like this would be unappreciated so soon.

The Pro-Hero quickly moved his arm around the doctor's waist, "Not at all," he blurted out, probably failing _entirely_ at not seeming too eager.

Junko flashing him thumbs up from her place at the coffee counter did _not_ help.

 _ **000**_

Choko's baking was delicious as always, her cakes were super soft and moist making it easy for him to stomach as long as he took it slowly, not that he would rush with Harry sat comfortably in his lap, drinking his own tea and stroking one of the more forward cats that came over to investigate and decided it wanted to climb into the doctor's lap as well. Miskit was still lording over her seat, content to watch them lazily and only move herself to bat away any other cat that might try to dethrone her. Given how she was a chubby little grey and white munchkin with stumpy legs, it was quite comical to watch.

Then Choko appeared and dumped a box of kittens over them.

Harry very nearly ended up dropping his drink all over the both of them, and quickly escaped with a laugh, gathering up their dirty dishes before curious little noses got into all the things that were probably rather bad for them. Leaving Toshinori to be smothered in kittens, much to his delight.

"He comes in every time we get kittens," Junko provided when Harry got to the counter, grinning fondly at the blond as he so very gently handled the tiny animals. The two of them watched for a moment as he played with the fluffy little beasts, pinning a pair of them to the coffee table with one hand and letting them savage his fingers. The two of them chuckled at the sight, and Harry felt absolutely no shame in snapping a picture on his phone.

 _ **000**_

Like last time, Toshinori walked Harry back to his motorbike when they were finished in the cafe. Both of them were still laughing, completely covered in cat hair, and checking their pockets for any stray _friends_ that might have decided to crawl in – like the little black mischief maker that tried to escape the cafe in one of Toshinori's coat pockets before he put his hand in and noticed.

Harry teasingly showed off all the pictures he took of him when he was playing with the kittens when they reached his bike, "Maybe I should show everyone at Might Tower these?" he asked slyly.

Knowing that he _would_ as well, Toshinori made a grab for the phone only to have it tossed into Harry's other hand, the now empty one snagging the front of his shirt and dragging him down a little further. The blond yelped and then froze when Harry kissed him on the cheek.

"Next time we're going to an owl cafe," he announced before letting go.

For a moment, the Pro-Hero floundered, not sure of what to do before he decided to just... go with it. And plant a kiss of his own on Harry's cheek.

"Of course. I look forward to it already," he said warmly.

 _ **0000**_

 **This got a LOT BIGGER than intended. So I'm multi-chaping it even though this was supposed to be a cute little oneshot but thirteen pages later they're only finished with the second date and omg. I've got at least two more before couple confirmed, and then there's Harry's backstory to deal with, the Vigilantes thing with Trigger, and then Izuku and UA and (flop) yeah. There's a lot to cover XDD;;;**

 **I'm sorry to everyone who follows me for KHR who hasn't yet realised, I've moved fandoms. I would highly recommend giving BNHA a look, it's great. Bakugo made me not want to read it at first, but the promise of character development, meaningful character development, made me stick it out. And I honestly love this fucking series more than KHR tbh**


	2. Chapter 2

_**000**_

 **THERE'S SUNSHINE IN YOUR SMILE**

All Might rescues a rather prickly Doctor with a dark past and finds his life taking a most unexpected change. For someone so small, there's a lot of personality there, and he can't help but be drawn to that, like a moth to a flame. Slash, Toshinori/Harry.

 _ **000**_

 **CHAPTER TWO**

Sadly, the next time Toshinori encountered Harry, he was on the job.

A purse-snatcher had caught his attention while he was running an errand in the city on one of his rare 'days off' that he was unable to spend with Harry due to the fact the doctor himself was at work – another court case today he admitted via text.

But before he could get the jump on said purse snatcher, the suited form of the doctor himself seemingly appeared out of the crowd and belted the man in the head with a truly breath-taking snap kick, and then stomped on him, forcing him to the ground and pinning him down with a foot between his shoulderblades. The villain wheezed, scrabbling helplessly on the pavement as the doctor likely applied more force than was possible for a man that weighed forty, perhaps fifty pounds, all without looking up from his phone which he then proceeded to use to call the police to come and pick the man up.

Toshinori couldn't help but chuckle like the love-sick fool he was as he watched.

Then the man's partner came out of the crowd behind the good doctor with a _knife_.

He moved before he was even consciously aware of the action, elbow _ramming_ down onto the thug's skull with more force than he should have used, breaking the pavement beneath them. It took a little longer than it should had to turn the snarl of rage that twisted his features into the same proud grin he usually wore for the masses.

"Are you quite alright, Potsu-sensei?" he asked, turning back to the Doctor who was still on the phone, realising at the last moment that he had dropped the briefcase and had a hand outstretched, not looking at him. Toshinori blinked, was the doctor inviting him to hold hand- the knife that the thug had been trying to stab him with promptly dropped into the doctor's palm. Ah, it must have gone spinning into the air. Whoops. How unlike him not to realise there was a dangerous weapon unaccounted for.

"Yes, a Pro-Hero has just arrived on the scene. All Might. Yes, he has subdued a second attacker. I don't think it will be a problem, but I'll ask," he said into the small device before looking up at the Pro-Hero, and no, it wasn't Toshnori's imagination, he was significantly less friendly looking than when they were on their dates. His eyes were downright cold. That... hurt a little. "Hero-san, would you be willing to take these two into custody, or at least detain them until the appropriate authorities can arrive?" he asked politely.

Toshinori grinned tightly at him, "Of course, Potsu-sensei!" he announced with a broad laugh.

The doctor nodded shortly and returned to his phone. Brushing the blond hero off completely.

 _ **000**_

"Eh, I don't hate All Might," Harry admitted, blinking large green eyes up at him as they sat within the owl cafe he had chosen for their third date. Apparently the doctor was a regular within the cafe, he often came in to buy treats and goods for his own pet owl, a gift from his teenage years apparently, and to teach people how to properly care for the raptors on site. Right now, he had a rather cute little elf-owl occupying his shirt collar, and a beautiful spotted owl perched upon the back of his chair.

Toshinori flustered a little, "I see. It's just, your interactions with him were a bit – well, they were remarkably cold, especially compared to how you treat me, and other people I've seen you with," he admitted a little anxiously.

Harry sighed and sat up a little, rubbing a fingertip across the elf owl's head.

"It's my Quirk," he admitted, making the blond pause and frown a little. What did his super strength quirk have to do with a dislike of All Might? "I got unlucky and ended up with a multifaceted Quirk, part of that happens to be Empathy. I can feel emotions within a certain radius depending on my body temperature. The hotter I run, the further I can sense. Think of it as a little like a car engine, on first gear I have a range of about ten feet. Ramp it up to fifth gear, or even sixth, and I can sense everyone within a city block. I can't do it at that kind of strength without risking brain damage though, too much sensory input will make my brain swell. I trained it too much when I was younger and it's growth outstripped my own," he explained as he picked up his teacup and took a sip, staring down at the green fluid. "It's useful as a Doctor, it means I can get an accurate read on how my patients are feeling, where their aches and pains are, what their emotional responses are and whether or not the explanations I've given them are good enough.

"The downside is that I feel what they feel. When I was younger, it was crippling. If someone was next to me, and they were sad, I would turn into a crying mess. If someone was angry, I was liable to start a fight. Growing up was _difficult_. I had to learn a lot of mental discipline on how to hold myself apart from the sensory feedback, it refined my control a lot as I did, enough so that I could – I kind of turned into an emotional Lie Detector," he explained with a shrug as he set his cup down and looked up. "I can tell when people lie to me. Heroes are constantly obscuring who they are, their whole _identity_ is a lie. That is... exceptionally uncomfortable to be around for me. Like... Like a thistle bush pressed against your skin, _under it_ , not hard enough to pierce, but it still hurts.

"I don't _hate_ All Might, I have a lot of respect for his actions even if I'm not a big fan of the whole... flashy loudness of his personality. The whole commercialism that surrounds Pro-Heroes outright revolts me, but that's just a product of how I was raised so I couldn't even tell you if that is actually my genuine opinion or something I've been conditioned to think." He sipped his drink again, "I don't like liars. I don't like how they feel. How their voices sound when they do it," he summed up with a heavy sigh.

"That sounds like quite the Quirk," Toshinori managed to get out. It sounded horrible actually. A quirk that could literally kill you because of how strong it was, even though your body was completely adapted to it? He remembered the pain of trying to adapt to One for All back in his teens, he wouldn't have wished that pain on another living soul, even though he knew he would have to one day.

Harry flashed him a look, and then huffed a tiny smile, "Not quite a lie, but close enough, Yagi-san," he pointed out wryly.

"Ah, my apologies. And, please, call me Toshinori? I think we're close enough by now for that," he admitted with a hopeful smile.

Harry laughed, "Of course, I was hoping you'd give me permission eventually," he said before his smile gentled, "My quirk was one of the reasons I ended up taking such an interest in you, to be honest." Toshinori froze, blinking at him from the straw of his milkshake, "You felt _nice_ , if it isn't too cheesy to say. It's easy to get a read on people who are honest, what kind of personalities they have. You felt _nice_. Warm." The doctor coughed a little, laughing as one of the sawhet owls landed on the shoulder not occupied by the spotted owl.

Toshinori blushed vividly before he smiled, "Like sunshine?" he offered, hand involuntarily rising to touch the tulip still in his buttonhole.

Harry nodded, blushing a little, "Yes."

 _ **000**_

It would have been just their luck that the following day a major villain incident broke out, destroying three city blocks and engulfing a forth in fire. All rescue and major Heroes were called in as the team of villains responsible were still causing havoc at the scene. It was absolute _Hell_.

Three of the villains had been apprehended by the time an aid station had been erected, and it was a scene of organised chaos as civilians were brought to them in droves. Burn victims were immediately rushed into one of the enclosed tents while people suffering from smoke inhalation and general injuries were shown elsewhere, people were going into shock, wrapped up in blankets, some of them hyperventilating into oxygen masks. But there were still people buried in rubble, trapped in burning buildings, and not everyone had Quirks that could identify and find those trapped. Toshinori had the benefit of One for All improving his hearing, he was able to coordinate with the young Present Mic to announce survivors in certain areas that needed help whenever heard their weak calls or stuttering heartbeats. But it was hard to find them, or hear them, over the roaring of the flames that Endeavour was trying to settle down and keep contained, trying, and failing. Whatever chemical the villains had used as explosives was interfering with the Pro's ability to control it, or subdue it.

It was honestly a stressful situation, business as usual aside, it was still one of the worse ones. He was not like Enji who would rage at the heavens, and fight every wrong-doer he could find in a cathartic obsession as if to try and burn his temper out through action and energy. Toshinori was not a man of rage, or anger. He had learned the folly of that flame and burned himself irreparably fighting All for One, he could not forget that heat so easily, and would forever flinch from the fire of his temper now. This kind of incident would have had him crying into his pillow when he got home once upon a time ago, now he kind of just wanted to call Harry and listen to his voice as he complained _viciously_ about idiots in his emergency room, and cooed over the little ones he still had to care for. Listen to him cooking dinner, occasionally stopping to chat to Hedwig, his owl, who occasionally interjected on their phonecalls with demands for affection.

He was not a man of rage.

Until he realised he was.

Until he returned, more injured in arm, to see a stand-off in front of the burn tent, and the last person he ever wanted to see held at gunpoint being used as a human shield by one of the very villains they had been hunting for. Harry had his hands lifted up, showing bloody sleeves and gloves, facemask dangling from one ear, hair under a cap as he scowled and tilted his head back uncomfortably, gun leaving visible indents on his skin.

"No body move! No body! I'll blow this gaijin's fucking head off! I'll blow all the bastards behind me if any of you so much as twitch!" the villain roared, panicky, aggressive.

"He has an explosive slime technique! The burn tent has been compromised!" Harry called over to the gathering heroes.

"Shut up! Shut up, you fucking asshole! I'll kill you if you open your mouth again, I'll fucking kill you!" the villain blazed hysterically, his chameleon eyes bulging and turning in different directions, thick bulbous tongue pulsing out between wide rubbery lips, slick and covered in a milky white slime.

The doctor merely rolled his eyes and grunted uncomfortably when the villain jabbed the gun more firmly into his windpipe.

The villain giggled nastily as a few of the Pros took a step back, "That's it, you spineless sacks of shit, that's it. One wrong move and they all die," he promised, tongue sliding out over the doctor's shoulder, slathering his neck, chest, and shoulder with viscous white fluid, banding an arm around the doctor's waist and edging around the tent. Harry rolled his eyes again, and huffed with a scowl.

"No," Toshinori couldn't help but mutter under his breath, his eyes widening in alarm. If he didn't have so many people on his back he would have – but he couldn't. And he _knew_ Harry's temper, he wasn't the type to go quietly. He wasn't going to go quietly into the night, he would rage and burn, and right now that would – but the Doctor didn't move, didn't do anything. Until –

"I've disabled all the slime bombs!" a nurse shouted from the tent.

"What?!" the villain yelped, and Harry _moved_.

The hands he had braced behind his head snapped down, he trapped the villain's gun arm in his armpit, twisted his head back so the gunbarrel was no longer digging in under his jaw, twisted, and _threw_ the villain to the ground, neatly dislocating his arm in the process.

The doctor dragged the gun from his fingers and disassembled it, casually throwing bits and pieces aside into different locations, foot braced between the villain's shoulderblades as he pinned him to the ground.

"Someone arrest this idiot," he commanded, tossing the last of the gun to the dirt over his shoulder and glaring at the assembled Heroes, "and the rest of you – stop standing around gaping! Get back to work! There's still people out there! Shoo!" the now _golden_ eyed doctor barked as he began to scrape off the foul slime that covered his right shoulder and neck in absolute disgust.

Almost as one, the Heroes jolted, realising they were still in the middle of a disaster situation, and shot off to do as they were told. But before young Kamui Woods could cross the open area to arrest the villain, the chameleon man twisted his head and spat his tongue up at Harry.

The doctor snatched it in midair before it could make contact with his face.

" _Second date_ ," the golden eyed man hissed, his words resonating strangely through the air even as the villain squeaked in growing discomfort, the doctor's hand beginning to _smoke_.

" _No Tongue_."

The villain shrieked in agony, writhing, a moment before the doctor released him, his tongue now patterned with a vicious hand-print _burn_.

Kamui quickly took the villain into custody, for his own safety or not remained to be seen, but the young Hero most definitely kept his distance from the doctor, as if frightened that he too would be on the receiving end of his temper. Harry meanwhile squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and walked away behind the tent, out of sight as he stripped off his gloves, and then pressed a hand over his mouth, shoulders hunching.

Toshinori dropped down beside him.

"Doctor Pots?" he asked quietly.

"It's nothing, I lost my temper, it's nothing," the young man assured him hoarsely, now pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes, rather hard. He took a deep breath, and then another, before his head fell back and his hands dropped. "There's a whole lot of anger floating around right now. I shouldn't have done that," he muttered before he opened his once again green eyes to look over at him. He then frowned, "Shouldn't you be out there saving people?" he demanded sharply.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright, Doctor," Toshinori explained, trying not to take the question personally. It was a little hard given how if he had asked that out of uniform it would have netted him a hug and a kiss on the cheek from the young man.

Harry dragged his fingers through his hair tiredly, "Cup of tea and I'll be right as rain, I promise. Now shoo. We _both_ have work to do."

How right he was.

 _ **000**_

The two of them stayed for the entirety of the night, working well into the morning the following day until Toshinori's limit ran out, and Harry was near fainting with exhaustion and dehydration. They both had to quietly withdraw from the front lines and go to their respective homes.

It was Harry who texted him first, even as he was about to send one himself asking how the doctor was feeling.

' _Not feeling good. Work was horrible and I kind of need a hug right now. Can you come over?_ ' was quickly followed by an address. Toshinori stared at the address, it was not too far away from the hospital which he shouldn't have been surprised about, with a tube station just down the road. He could be there within twenty minutes if the Sakura line was running today.

' _I'm sorry, I'm really tired. I probably shouldn't have sent that. Don't mind me, it isn't important. I hope your day went well_ ' pinged on his phone next, and he didn't have to be an empath to know that Harry was probably feeling insecure and all different kinds of awkward and guilty for what he probably thought was a guilt-trip text. They had been talking long enough for Toshinori to realise that for someone who was usually so confident he did have some surprisingly well hidden self-esteem issues. Usually centred around asking for help and support, feeling like he was being needy and wasting people's time.

' _Want me to pick something up to eat on my way?_ ' the Pro-Hero sent instead, because right now, he really wanted a hug too.

 _ **000**_

He had never been to Harry's flat. It wasn't anything fancy he noted, especially given how he knew Harry had a paycheque probably half that of a Pro-Hero (Japan paid their doctors _extraordinarily_ well, but Heroes were celebrities and got paid better), and could _definitely_ afford somewhere better. But it was a good area, as he walked he could see basketball courts, a tennis court, and an outdoor swimming pool. He was fairly sure they were public property but largely reserved for the residents of the tower blocks near-by.

Harry lived on the top floor right at the far end of the building in a corner suite.

When he opened the door, he did _not_ look good. His eyes were red rimmed from smoke irritation, he had bathed, but the faint scent of ashes and blood still lingered, his skin was pale, and his hands were shaking ever so slightly. His Quirk, he realised, how long had Harry been there trying to keep his shit together while he was being battered on every side by other people's panic, fear, anger, and pain?

He set the bag of food on the floor, "Come here," he said opening his arms for the doctor as he opened the door fully and stepped out to wrap his arms around him properly.

The scent of ash was stronger now, mixing with the lemon of Harry's shampoo as he slowly rocked them both from side to side. His mind flashed back to that moment where that villain was digging a gun into the doctor's throat, his tongue dribbling explosive fluid across the man's shoulder. He tightened his grip and buried his face into Harry's damp hair, feeling Harry tighten his arms around him as well with a shaky breath.

He kissed the green eyed man's head before drawing back a little, "Shall we? Before the food gets cold."

Harry nodded, pulling back with another shuddering breath, only looking up when Toshinori gently pushed several strands of hair behind his ear.

There was a stark black bruise on his neck.

The Pro-Hero froze, eyes locked on the small two-hundred and fifty yen coin sized blemish set right between the tendon and windpipe of Harry's throat.

He found himself trying to cover it from sight, pressing his hand over it, unable to stop the small wounded noise of concern from escaping him as he raised his eyes to the doctor's face.

"He didn't hurt me," Harry promised, catching his wrist and moving to press a kiss against the palm of Toshinori's hand. The doctor's eyes slid to one side, his expression falling into one of guilt and self-loathing, "I... I hurt him though. I lost control. I – " he trailed off shamefully and squeezed his eyes shut.

The words ' _he deserved it_ ' sat heavy and bitter on the tip of Toshinori's tongue. Words he could never utter because... if All Might allowed himself to think or act like that, what kind of symbol of peace would he be? Not one that he wanted to become, that was for sure. Instead, he kissed Harry's forehead, both his cheeks, and then bent down even further to kiss his neck, covering the bruise with his lips, feeling Harry's fingers tangle in his hair and a short huff of laughter as he tried to push him away.

"Not in the hallway!"

The blond pulled back, pasting on a sunny smile as he scooped up the handles of the plastic bag and offered the doctor his arm, "Then shall we go in?" he asked in the hammiest, cheesiest manner he could.

Harry laughed, and there was still something brittle in his eyes but he took Toshinori's arm and lead him into the narrow flat without comment, or hesitation. Harry took the plastic bag into the small kitchen that opened out onto the left, leaving the Pro-hero to take his shoes and coat off and get a proper look around the place. Being on the corner, Harry was lucky enough to have more windows than his neighbours, the entire left side of his flat was very open plan with only a breakfast bar separating the small kitchen from the living room. He could see the extra large bouquet of flowers he had given Harry separated out into multiple pint-glasses and even a few mugs here, there, and everywhere on almost every flat surface and found himself grinning a little sheepishly. Perhaps it had been a little overkill. The walls were a plain beige colour, likely the standard and he wasn't permitted to change them, a small TV stood in the far left corner of the long room, a pair of sofas surrounded a small coffee table one pushed back against the breakfast bar, and the other against the wall opposite the TV. The coffee table was rather lovely, having an intricate marquetry design of a herd of deer in a forest across it, there was a mug of flowers, and a few coasters on it. To his right were three doorways, only two possessing _doors_ , the middle one merely had a curtain of beads and lead into what was unmistakably a utility room with both washer and dryer, a shelf set to one side with multiple cleaning products, and both a broom, and mop and bucket beneath that.

Toshinori could only assume the two other doors lead to the bedroom and bathroom respectively before his attention was caught by a chittering shrill from the kitchen. Stepping a little further into the room so he could peer around Harry, he spotted the mysterious Hedwig perched upon a wooden stand, watching him with golden eyes.

For an owl almost hitting her twenties, she was beautiful, and obviously well loved.

Harry smiled when he saw where he was looking, "Say hello to Hedwig," he introduced, reaching out to stroke her head and chucking when she immediately twisted her head to nibble at his fingers, blinking slowly in contentment at him. "She's been my oldest and dearest friend for a long time. Hed, this is Toshinori, remember? We talk to him on the phone sometimes," the doctor said to her, his tone gentling as she crooned and then turned to look at the blond with what could almost be consideration.

Well, they said pets took after their owners.

Toshinori padded over, and smiled at her, "Hello young miss," he greeted, and slowly, so she could see him moving, moved to stroke her chest.

The snowy owl puffed up under his touch and crooned, before nipping at his fingers as well.

He saw Harry's shoulders relax a little at the owl's easy acceptance of him, and couldn't help but be both amused, exasperated, and rather charmed that the opinion of his pet was so important to him. He hugged the doctor from behind, chuckling as he noticed the tips of the man's ears turning pink with embarrassment.

"You're very sweet," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of the man's head.

Harry grumbled a little before leaning back against him.

"I'm tired," the doctor admitted quietly.

"Should I go?" Toshinori asked softly, not wanting to, but unwilling to push any boundaries Harry might have.

Thankfully the doctor shook his head and gripped his hands, "No."

 _ **000**_

They ended up falling asleep on the sofa while watching Finding Nemo, empty cartons of chinese food and mugs of tea and hot chocolate on the coffee table, Hedwig having long since taken flight out through the open window to do a spot of hunting. The only reason Toshinori woke up was because he was getting a little chilled and once he was brought out of the heavy grasp of deep sleep, couldn't ignore the bright light and loud DVD menu playing on the TV. Hazily he blinked at the far too bright square, and then down at the doctor tucked into his side, curled into as tight of a ball as he humanly could with his face buried in the Pro-Hero's chest.

He smiled dopily as he threaded his fingers through the doctor's now dry hair, and then paused, a frown of concern crossing his face when he realised just how _cold_ he was. Harry was usually like a miniature furnace, but now his body temperature was bordering on the same kind of chill as a _Shock_ victim!

"Harry? _Harry?_ " the blond called, sitting up properly and shaking the smaller man's shoulder. His head lolled for a moment before hazy green eyes cracked open, blinking up at him in confusion.

"Toshi?" he slurred tiredly, flopping a hand up to grip the blond's wrist, "Whasswrong?" he demanded, swaying a little drunkenly.

"How are you feeling, Harry? Please, don't close your eyes, look at me. Are you alright?" he shook the doctor again and received an indignant frown from the man in question.

"M'tired, an' you're _noisy_ ," he complained, blinking rapidly.

"Don't go to sleep, Harry, you're in Shock, _shit,_ I should have checked you earlier," the blond cursed himself out, rubbing the doctor's arms carefully, trying to get some warmth into him. "You're _freezing_ , I'm taking you to your room," he declared, carefully reaching down and scooping the doctor up in a parody of when they first met. With better results.

Harry leaned into him, and draped his arms lazily over his shoulders, hiding his face in Toshinori's neck, "M'cold 'cause my Quirk cools down when I sleep," he explained through a jaw-cracking yawn, "Sorry if I scared you, I f'got."

Toshinori paused as he carefully opened the bedroom door, turning that over in his head. It – made a lot of sense given what he knew of the doctor's power. It got stronger the higher his body temperature, so it would stand to reason that the only way he could get any sleep was if he cooled down to the point where his empathy was contained to himself. Or at least someone next to him as sleepy as he himself. Which one of them had been the first one to fall asleep anyway? (Probably him, as much as he liked movies, he was a bit notorious for falling asleep in front of the TV when he was already tired.)

He couldn't see a lot of the room, it was small though without much in the way of light due to how high they were, he could just about make out the corner of the bed, and a wardrobe to the right of it in the faint glow from the TV on the ceiling above them.

He huffed a small laugh as he pressed a kiss against the junction of the doctor's neck and shoulder where his shirt had slipped slightly, "That's a relief. I was worried there," he admitted as he peeled the not so surprisingly now that he thought about it plentiful bedsheets back and laid the doctor down.

Harry grunted a little in apology before allowing his arms to slip from Toshi's shoulders. Smiling, the blond pulled the covers back over the tired young man and began to move back into the living room – he could sleep on the couch, it was surprisingly big so it shouldn't be _too_ uncomfortable, and his coat was pretty warm.

Harry grabbed his sleeve, "No, Toshi, stay," he pleaded.

"But I – " the blond spluttered, letting Harry reel him back in from where he had been leaning out of the bed.

"We're both adults. I think we can handle sleeping in the same bed, you know, and for someone your height, that sofa will be uncomfortable," the doctor pointed out, sitting back and yawning widely behind his other hand, enough for his eyes to squint shut.

Flustered, but pleased, the blond leaned down to kiss his forehead, "You just want to get me in bed," he teased playfully, feeling Harry lean into the contact.

"Good job noticing, I've only been trying for the last two months," he snarked back lazily, rubbing his face before yawning again and planting his face firmly against Toshinori's stomach, "You deserve wooing though, too good for me," he mumbled against the blond's bellybutton.

That was both the most lovely and patently untrue thing anyone had ever said to him, in _either_ form.

"We're going to have to agree to disagree on that last one," he said instead, rubbing the back of the man's neck listening to him hum sleepily, and even _feel_ his temperature beginning to drop. Making sure he was back under the covers, Toshinori hesitated only a little before climbing in as well, having to lie horizontally across the double bed in order to fit his entire frame in. Harry wasted no time in rolling over and reoccupying his position against his side, face pressed firmly just above the ruinous scar on his left side, a hand closed over it. As if shielding it.

He took a deep breath and then rolled over, wrapping both arms around the doctor and pulling him tightly against his chest, burying his face into ashy lemon scented hair.

Harry was completely wrong about Toshinori being too good for him, it was very clearly the other way around.

 _ **000**_

All Might had always been the kind of man that rose with the sun, Toshinori was a little lazier and liked to have a bit of a lie in if he could manage it, not much, there was always too much to do. But half an hour to wallow in his bed was plenty.

Harry was apparently one of those people who was _very_ reluctant to wake in the morning.

His body temperature was pretty low, and despite being so light, he was a complete deadweight in the Pro-hero's arms, pliant and warm, he barely stirred when Toshinori slithered out to visit the bathroom and turn the TV off. Hedwig was back from her flight, feathers only a little pink indicating some success, she was dosing quite happily in the kitchen, tucked up on her stand beneath the mug cupboard where she had turned to face the wall. A glance at the clock on the microwave called it at seven thirty in the morning, normally he would be coming back from his jog now, scrubbing up quickly in the shower, and then bolting for work.

Right now, he just wanted to crawl back into Harry's very comfortable bed.

And after yesterday, he felt that he deserved it as well.

So he re-entered the bedroom, absently taking in the fact that it was a lot more personal than the rest of the house with bookshelves on almost every wall, a desk with a computer in the corner next to the window, and... a shrine opposite it, next to the bedside table. There were a _lot_ of pictures. He resolutely did not look, some things were too private.

Instead he lay back down on the bed, not surprised in the slightest that in his short absence all of the covers had managed to bunch up around a small tuft of black hair, still sleeping soundly exactly where Toshinori left him.

Grinning, he angled his phone to take a picture, managing to snap what little of Harry's face was visible as apparently he was prone to curling into a ball when sleeping alone.

The sound of the shutter was enough to rouse the doctor though if the small frown and the way his eyes slit open very irritably was any indication. Toshinori smiled apologetically, reaching out to stroke the young man's hair.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" he asked unnecessarily.

Harry grumbled, squeezing his eyes shut, and _wormed_ his way across the short distance between them to curl up on Toshinori's leg, a hand sneaking out from his warm cocoon of blankets to go around his waist and hook fingers into his beltloops. The Pro-Hero could only chuckle at the wordless protest of the hour and get himself comfortable. With Harry dosing in his lap, it was easier to read through the news reports of the disaster yesterday without feeling that _itch_ to immediately go back out and help.

He chuckled hard enough to wake Harry up a little when he happened upon a news-reel of the doctor's expert take-down of the villain holding him at gunpoint. Watching the video clip was a lot easier than seeing it in person. For instance, Toshinori could see, quite plainly, that Harry was _annoyed_ by the interruption of his work. Not in the least little bit concerned or anxious about himself or his patients. Just pissed off over the interruption. Though, running his fingers through the man's hair, Toshinori did wonder if that was the feedback from his Quirk affecting him. Everyone must have been terrified, furious, and the villain himself was in both physical contact and full of bitter loathing and all sorts of other chaotic and unpleasant emotions. Yes, Harry did lose control, but aside from a burnt tongue and a dislocated arm, all of which were easily healed and dealt with and not at _all_ permanent, he handled himself amazingly well. Better than most Pro-Heroes in his humble opinion actually. Though he was probably a little biased.

Still, keeping all those outside factors in mind, he was _achingly_ proud of how restrained the doctor had been in his actions. He had the physical strength to have _ripped the man's arm_ _ **off**_. But instead merely dislocated it, pinned him, held him down, and... _somehow_ burnt his tongue.

Just _how_ multifaceted was Harry's Quirk?

"I can feel you thinking, stop it," the doctor complained into his stomach.

"Ah, my apologies," the blond said with a sheepish grin as Harry pushed himself upright, glowering up at him with bleary red rimmed eyes, likely as not still sore and irritated from yesterday. He was still cold to the touch, near _hypothermic_ , but that explained why he was such an aggressive cuddler at least (not that Toshinori was _ever_ going to complain about Harry snuggling up against him).

The doctor huffed, "I'm cold," he complained before leaning up and, before Toshinori quite registered what he was doing, kissed him briefly on the lips and climbed out of the bed, shuffling almost drunkenly out of the room. "M'stealin' first shower. Need the hot water," he explained as he walked into the doorframe, bounced off, swore, and then continued his zombie march towards the bathroom.

 _ **000**_

Harry had a thirty second freak out once he was under the hot-spray and had his body temperature back up. Freezing painfully in the middle of shampooing the last of the ashy smell from his hair.

He had just kissed Toshinori on the mouth without invitation. _Fuck!_

He had been trying to take this slowly, let the blond set the pace, as he was – well, even with Harry's absolutely terrible history of dating, girls, and school, he got the distinct impression that _he_ was the more experienced of the two and hadn't wanted to push the kind Japanese man into anything he wasn't ready for. He was trying to be respectful of the unspoken boundaries, and the blond's comfort levels with his injury, his poor self-esteem, and the oh so often felt flavour of inadequacy Harry sometimes got from him.

He dragged a hand through his sudsy hair and sighed.

What was done was done. He could apologise when he got out of the shower, or he could brush the matter off as just part of his being an utter horror in the morning before his blood temperature was high enough for cognisant thought. However, the problem now arose that he wasn't actually sorry about stealing that kiss. And in fact wanted to do it again. For longer.

He wondered if Toshinori had ever had a french kiss before...

Okay that was a bad direction for his thoughts to take _right now_. Harry sighed and turned the shower off, he quickly dried off and snagged the loose comfy clothes he tended to keep in there because he was lazy and forgetful and sometimes just went into the shower without a change of clothes with him – like now. Apparently it was frowned upon in Japanese society to leave the bathroom in just a towel, plus he had a guest, and while he had the advantage of seeing the ruin of Toshinori's chest, he didn't think the blond particularly wanted to see the ruin of Harry's _back_. He had been a Hero long enough to recognise the marks of torture, and Harry didn't particularly want to have that conversation just yet in their fledgeling relationship. Give it a year and he might be able to stomach sharing it. The physical of it anyway. Torture had its place in war, and war was the one thing Toshinori would not know. Not if Harry could help it.

Dressing, he left the room to spot his guest sat on the sofa in the living room, looking a little nervous, fiddling with his phone and blushing. Aaaaand, now Harry felt guilty.

He sighed, catching the tall man's attention, "Sorry if I spooked you earlier. Can't say I regret it, just that you're uncomfortable now," he said bluntly, dragging a hand through his wet hair again before squeezing his eyes shut and ramping his temperature up hard enough to _steam_ it dry – he hated wandering around with wet hair.

Toshinori was stood up in surprise when he opened his eyes again. "How did – what did you just – " he spluttered.

Harry shrugged a shoulder, "Ramped my body temp up to dry my hair. I don't like wondering around with it wet," he admitted. "But yeah. Sorry if I upset you."

The blond flushed and shuffled his feet, "You didn't. It just took me by surprise," he explained with a shy smile.

Harry huffed a quiet laugh, "There's still hot water if you want a shower," he offered, jerking a thumb to the door behind him.

"Thank you but no, not this time," the Pro said with a smile as he made his way over, "But I wouldn't object to another," he added with a hopeful grin.

Harry blinked at him, not quite catching his meaning, at least until he tapped his lips and bent down to be at eye level with him. Then he realised, and laughed.

"I think I can manage that."

 _ **000**_

Despite upgrading their relationship to the kissing stage, neither of them had yet put it into any manner of official terminology. They were still both achingly busy with their respective work, Toshinori now also having his hospital appointments on top of that where the specialists that Harry had contacted on his behalf collaborated with each other and him on further treatments. His name was now on an organ donor list, but the chances of a match being found were slim due to what little he had been able to reveal about his Quirk – a _Doping_ type, he admitted, that allowed for minor gigantification of his musculature, providing explosive increases to both speed and strength. It meant the organs found would need to come from a donor with a similar Quirk, even if it wasn't as strong, on top of being the correct bloodtype, and various other needed factors. Toshinori did not have high hopes for a donor being found, but in the mean time he had been given some experimental reconstructive surgery to his diaphragm and lung using a liquid healing panacea that the hospital was known to stock. He had to admit, the reconstruction was the best thus far, and _holding_ even with his transformations – he just had to take said transformations slower than his usual, and use an inhaler with the same panacea loaded into it when he came down.

He hadn't coughed up blood in weeks.

He was not being as stringent as he possibly should have when it came to his diet requirements, at least until the gastroenterologist got into contact with Harry practically pulling her hair out in frustration. He most definitely found himself doing as he was told after that rather chilly conversation. Harry did not suffer fools who refused to look after themselves lightly, and had given Toshinori a dressing down unlike anything he had received since Gran Torino laid into him for reckless behaviour back in his UA days.

But he didn't mind, it meant his phone often pinged with a message from the doctor reminding him to snack on something, or asking if he'd eaten. And whenever they spent the day together, the young man would _enforce_ mandatory snack time with the promise of kisses for good behaviour.

Then Halloween came.

And Harry went a bit... funny. Not amusing funny. But _concerningly_ funny.

His humour took a sharp nose-dive into the morbid and black, almost _cruel_ , his temper and his words became sharper and near aggressive as well. And he had refused the one date that Toshinori attempted to set up in order to celebrate the holiday with a terse ' _I'm busy, not this time_ '.

When he showed up at the hospital in order to pick him up, to see how he was, the nurses told him that he had taken the week off – as usual.

 _As usual_.

He didn't know what to think as he walked the streets, chewing his lips in concern because... well, Harry was acting _off_. He was as much of a workaholic as Toshinori himself, that he would book a _week_ off from the hospital was actually rather alarming, especially when coupled with his behaviour lately.

He probably shouldn't have done it, but he slid into All Might's skin and launched himself to the roof of the apartment complex opposite the doctor, and peeked in through the windows.

Harry was sat in front of the small shrine in his bedroom, his head in his hands, several candles lit throwing the faces in the picture frames into stark golden relief. Toshinori did not need an explanation to know the red headed woman with Harry's beautiful green eyes, and the smiling dark haired man with his cheekbones and hair colour were his parents.

Quietly, he left the rooftop, and Harry to his mourning.

He would be patient, and wait until the doctor was ready to face the world.

 _ **000**_

Halloween oft saw the return of bad habits.

Harry got into a fight.

The taste of blood was an old friend, one that blunted and drowned the taste of cheap sake and bad beer, the ache of a bruise, the singing _fire_ in his blood, the way the world danced and whirled too bright and blurred as adrenalin moved him faster than his eyes could keep up, as his body grown soft remembered its sharpness. The edges, the cracks, the fractures, and points. The broken shards of himself that he used to _cut_ and _claw_ and _rend_ once upon a time ago.

And though his blood was fire and rust and lightning in his veins, the rain that washed away his bloody knuckles did not steam as though he felt it should.

Harry did not need his Quirk to fight.

He had spent many years fighting without it. Growing up in a house of hatred when you could feel it breathing beneath your skin as if it were your own but disconnected as though on the otherside of a curtain was tough. When a raised voice, and a flush of purple rage could set your blood to flame. When a hand of iron and stone could crush a hollow bone not yet sure of its own strength. A shrill piercing voice could make small ears bleed before a little mouth learned how to knock a picture frame from its hook. The pale embers not yet strong enough to _burn_ smothered beneath corpulent flesh stinking of grease and sweets.

He had spent years fighting without his Quirk. Bloodied teeth, broken skin, bruises, and burns.

Halloween saw the return of his childhood bad habits.

And as he spat blood into the gutter, and shoved his scraped knuckles into his pockets, and returned to the tiny bar to drink once again in peace for as long as the local thugs would allow him, he tried to drown the memories of his mother screaming in sake; the desperate commands of his father for them to run, to escape, while he held off a villain that should have never found them in cheap off-brand beer.

The second of May would see him back.

And not even the local thugs would bother him that day.

His blood burned, and they learned better.

 _ **000**_

"I've been meaning to ask for a while now," Toshinori said when they met up again mid-November, they had decided to give the various themed cafes a break and instead Harry was cooking for them that night. Right now the blond was sat up to the breakfast bar, watching the doctor move between the curry he was making and the rice, making sure nothing was sticking or burning. "I understand that going into the A-and-E is impossible, but how do you think an All Might visit to the childrens' recovery ward would go down?" he asked hopefully.

Harry paused thoughtfully from where he was adding a little more water to the pan of rice, "As long as he didn't bring a large amount of press, pretty well actually," he admitted before throwing him a wry smile, "I think ninety percent of the pictures the kids draw to be stuck on their pin-boards have his face on them. Or as good an approximation as they can do with crayons and shitty hand-eye coordination. How good is he with kids though? Because I have to warn you, over-excited toddlers have a habit of bursting into tears for the most _unbelievable_ of reasons."

That sounded adorable and he wanted to know the story now.

Harry chuckled, probably feeling his anticipation and sipped at his wine, clearly trying to think back, "We had one little lass, she kept screaming about how she didn't want to go, no one, not myself, the nurses, or her parents could convince her that she wasn't going anywhere. She just did not want to go. Then there was the little lad who got upset when he saw the bin eat one of the nurse's gloves, his mother told me he does that at home as well when the oven eats his dinner. We had another Hero visit a few years ago, can't for the life of me remember who it was now, but he didn't take it too well when one of the patients burst into tears and wouldn't go anywhere near him. They were just so overwhelmed with excitement that he was there they didn't want to do anything but cry," Harry began to list, grinning fondly as he continued to recount some of the more memorable meltdowns of his little patients.

"They're going to get their hands _everywhere_ ," he continued with a grin, "He's big enough they'll be using him like a climbing frame, I hope he can handle getting kicked in the junk with a grin because it _will_ happen. They're going to pull his hair, his cape, comment on whether or not he's got visible panty-line, try and poke him in the butthole, stick their fingers up his nose, in his mouth, _**everywhere**_ ," the doctor continued mercilessly as Toshinori started to laugh, unable to help picturing it because, goodness, he could, he could see it very clearly. "Think he can handle it? Toddlers are more nefarious than villains," Harry pointed out laughing.

"I'm sure we'll manage. He's quite fond of children," Toshinori confided with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "But don't tell anyone. The media reactions would be ridiculous."

"And how," the doctor agreed before going back to making sure the curry had thickened up properly.

Toshinori sipped at his white wine spritzer, "What about you?" he asked curiously, "I know you _work_ with children, you can at least tolerate them, but do you have any plans for a family?" Personally, he wanted a family, adopted or blood related he didn't much care. But a family... He hadn't... It was something he missed, and he would have liked one of his own, a child to raise, a partner to love.

Harry hovered over the stove for a moment before he sighed deeply, "I – no. Not right now, no plans," he admitted reluctantly, hand hesitating over the wallet in his back pocket before he pulled it out and moved to Toshinori's side. "I... This is Teddy," he said, thumbing a photograph of a much younger Harry from his wallet. He couldn't have been any older than sixteen or perhaps seventeen, he was cheek to cheek with a toddler bearing right turquoise blue hair and a wide dimpled smile, only four little milk-teeth peeking out from its gummy grin.

Toshinori carefully accepted the fragile old little photograph, from one of the ancient booths that no longer existed, Harry had been a teenage parent? Why was he here in Japan without his child? Had the mother objected to his guardianship, or had Harry given it up in order to pursue his career without neglecting his child?

"I was seventeen when he was born, it was the height of the Villain Disturbance in England. His parents were, his mother was a cousin of mine, his father was _my_ father's bestfriend. They named me godfather when they found out," Harry explained, leaning his head on Toshinori's shoulder. "They were murdered during the Villain attack on my school barely a month after he was born. I was too young, too mentally damaged to take care of a newborn. His grandmother took custody. I tried to be around as much as I could, but there was a lot of unrest, a lot of anger and hurt, lot of confusion. I tried to keep them safe. Andy, his grandmother, had suffered so much. Her sisters had married into the Villain group when they were younger, it was her younger sister, Bella, that murdered her husband, daughter, and son-in-law," Harry explained softly, leaning into the blond's side when he shifted an arm to hug him tightly.

"There was a – the Villains had managed to get into a lot of areas, take control, plant seeds, spread misinformation. They had a lot of sympathisers even after they were dealt with. I was – I was invited to join the local frontline Hero office, Auror, after my graduation, I just needed to take some training courses because I missed my final year. I accepted, and while I was at training for the day... I don't know. I came home to the house in ruins. Andy was on the front lawn, bloody, still. She fought to the last. Teddy... He would have been three the next month. Today, he would be eleven. He would be at Hogwarts, learning how to be a Hero like his mother."

Harry gently recollected the photograph from Toshinori's fingers, smiling down at it, "He was still breathing when I got to him. But I couldn't save him. So I quit Auror training, I went into medicine. The backlash was violent. With my Quirk, they had been hoping to throw me on the frontline. They viewed my change in priorities as dereliction of duty. I – I ended up leaving the country. Teddy's the reason I became a paediatric surgeon. And until I can be certain that any family I have is safe, I don't think I can commit to having one. Sorry."

The Pro-Hero smiled a little sadly, tightening his grip before dipping down to kiss the doctor reassuringly.

"A conversation for further down the road, hm?" he suggested warmly, gently brushing a few stray strands of hair behind Harry's ear.

"Much later," Harry agreed slowly, smiling a little in relief before reaching up to kiss him a little more thoroughly.

 _ **000**_

December eleventh saw the first snowfall on Tokyo as temperatures plunged.

Toshinori found himself in the unenviable position of having to come clean about his identity to a few of his doctors at the hospital, rushing through various secrecy papers for them to sign before coming clean. He still had not even done so for Harry though he kept a copy of the paperwork in his top-desk, and found himself looking at it often, wondering if he would ever scrape up the balls to present them to the young man he was fairly certain he was actually falling in love with, and wondering if he would just tell him and _screw_ the paperwork. Eitherway, in order to further his recovery, and to explain why _growing_ him replacement internal organs using a pig-surrogate, like various transplant organs had been done twenty years prior while stem-cell research was still in its infancy, probably wasn't going to work, he needed to bring his little team of health professionals in on his secret.

The reaction was a great deal more professional than he had expected.

Miyazaki-sensei did however pull him aside and very sharply question whether or not Potsu-sensei was aware of this yet. Toshinori had been forced to very quietly admit that no, he did not, not through lack of trust but... a lack of desire to burden him, or disgust him due to his dislike of All Might's on camera behaviours.

' _Disgust or not, you're going to want to come clean with him before you two get serious,_ ' the stern faced rheumatologist warned, ' _I can't tell you what I know, but Potsu-sensei has some serious trust issues. Big secrets can break him. If you want this relationship, you're going to have to be as open and honest as possible._ '

It was a bit – well, he didn't know how he felt about that but when he found out that Miyazaki-sensei was the doctor that Harry had been 'apprenticed' to for the duration of his training it was a bit eye-opening. Different departments, but Harry's Quirk was _apparently_ one that could see him anywhere in the hospital, so every department had attempted to sway him into their clutches. But his heart had been firmly on paediatrics, and despite the fact that doctors were seldom present within the Emergency Wards, typically in and out, and rarely ever remaining with just the one patient all the time, Harry had some manner of special dispensation to linger as he wished.

But still.

With the knowledge of his Quirk now known to them, his treatments were amended to take his workload into account. He received a new inhaler with _silver_ pills, an oxygen tank to have at home, and his office for inbetween hero work, and an increased appointment schedule with Miyazaki-sensei to deal with the ruin of his pectoral and abdominal muscles. He also learned some interesting information about the gigantism of his quirk, it did _not_ affect his digestive tract. His lungs, and heart swelled along with his musculature in order to support his quirk, allowing for greater oxygenation of his blood and stronger heartbeats, etc, to keep up with his activity. But his stomach and all affiliated organs remained as they were. Meaning that the proposed plan to _grow_ him a new stomach and pancreas from stem-cells in a donor pig was actually _viable_. He could have a new stomach transplanted into him within three years if he agreed.

Of course he agreed.

His lung was holding fairly well with the assistance the silver inhaler gave him, with the extra oxygen he took between jobs he no longer felt so sluggish or dizzy anymore, he was healing faster, feeling more energetic, _genuinely happy_ – though he entirely put that down to Harry's continued presence in his life. These days... Toshinori was actually more prone to spending time at the doctor's flat than his own. Several changes of his clothes had found their way into the Doctor's draws, he had a _toothbrush_ in the bathroom, his own shampoo and bodywash, even a towel that had unofficially become his (the white and yellow one), and the blender had become a permanent fixture of the kitchen counter much to Hedwig's dismay as she was not fond of the overly loud device.

They hadn't gone further than kissing, and yes sometimes things got a little involved, but at the first _hint_ of reluctance, discomfort, or even just surprise, Harry would be pulling back and cooling things down. He never pushed, and part of Toshinori was a little frustrated with that but at the same time that Harry respected his boundaries and his inexperience in this matter and let _him_ set the pace was heartwarming. It made him a little giddy because the doctor respected him, as a person, without All Might's achievements clouding his perceptions.

In the end, it was their fifth date out that made his mind up.

One of the parks had opened an outdoor ice-rink, Toshinori had always enjoyed skating when he was younger and that had also transferred into ice skating. He was pretty good at it too, having always made a point of visiting during the winter. Harry had never been skating before in his life, let alone ice-skating. "Scotland got cold enough, but the black lake never froze over," he explained as he carefully copied how Toshinori did his laces up in the strange unfamiliar black boots.

"You never went to any of the indoor rinks?" the blond asked curiously as he got to his feet and held hands out for Harry, the doctor nervously allowing himself to be pulled upright to his bladed feet, gripping Toshinori's fingers a little tighter than he normally would. The blond smiled fondly, was he frightened?

"If they existed, I never saw one," Harry admitted as he found his balance and nodded, letting his date lead him towards the ice and pausing with both hands gripping the wall as he eyed the frozen surface sceptically, "Are you sure this is a good idea? I might ruin it," he warned.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, look, just watch them for a bit and then when you think you have the hang of it, I'll hold your hands," the Pro-Hero said, nodding to a few girls who were easily skating around and laughing with each other. Harry grimaced a little his eyes tracking their progress before he took a breath and grinned widely enough to hide the obvious discomfort on his face.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," he declared before stepping onto the ice – _and slipping immediately_.

Toshinori caught him with a laugh and pushed him back to his feet, Harry swore under his breath, glancing apologetically to a few of the children around them and clung to the side of the rink with both hands.

"Hardest part is getting on the ice," the blond declared cheerfully, holding his hands out for the doctor again.

"Says you," he snarked before glancing to his grip on the wall and gritting his teeth. If there was one thing Toshinori had learned about Harry, it was that once he had set his mind on something, there was no stopping him. Fear, anxiousness, hesitancy, they weren't going to stop him for long on _anything_. If he had been a Hero it would have driven Toshinori to grey hair already. As it was, he caught the Doctor's hands and carefully began to slide backwards, the two of them keeping their eyes focused on Harry's feet.

"There we go, move them in Vee-shapes. Weight on the back leg and push off, slide the forward leg in a V-shape, and transfer your weight. There you go, going great!" Toshinori praised happily as Harry gracelessly followed his instructions and began to do more than just mutilate the ice with his blades.

Eventually Harry found his feet, and began to move with more confidence, enough so that he released Toshinori – but not entirely.

It was around about the time it started getting dark, snow once again starting to fall, that the blond Pro-Hero glanced over at the doctor and stared for a long moment. He wasn't doing anything particularly amazing or poignant. He was still glaring at his feet, tongue poking out a little in concentration, his nose was red with chill, and his glasses were sliding down again. Snow was settling into his black hair in little white tufts, and the tips of his ears were as red as his nose. He was wearing a hand-knitted red and yellow scarf that matched the sweater he had on under his black biker jacket, and a pair of ratty old washed out blue jeans that were covered in little darning patches where Harry had sewn the little wear and tears up.

He didn't want to lose this.

Lose him.

It just kind of struck him then, staring at the doctor as he nodded his head in time with their skating, the sound of bad foreign christmas carols playing in the background, children laughing and squealing as they fell on the ice, people talking around them, and snow falling on Harry's hair.

He wanted this. He wanted it so much it made his heartbeat stutter in his chest when he realised it.

He tightened his grip on Harry's hand, smiling down at him, "When we get home, there's something I have to tell you," he said, catching the young man's attention.

Harry frowned up at him in concern, not quite understanding the confusing tangle of emotions he was getting from the blond, "Is everything alright?" he asked.

Toshinori kissed him.

 _ **0000**_

 **Look at these adorable nerds. Enjoy your fluff.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**000**_

 **THERE'S SUNSHINE IN YOUR SMILE**

All Might rescues a rather prickly Doctor with a dark past and finds his life taking a most unexpected change. For someone so small, there's a lot of personality there, and he can't help but be drawn to that, like a moth to a flame. Slash, Toshinori/Harry.

 **I think it's safe to say that BNHA has crowbarred me out of the KHR fandom. Probably for the best, it was... becoming unpleasant there tbh.**

 _ **000**_

 **CHAPTER THREE**

Harry would never complain about Toshinori kissing him, but that last kiss... it felt almost like a goodbye, or an apology wrapped into one. He was concerned. The only emotion he was picking up from the blond right now was a grim resolve, fearful anxiousness, and a kind of... quiet resignation. It made his palms sweaty and his grip tighten on the man's hand as he peered worriedly up at his face.

After returning their skates, they made their way back to Harry's flat, stopping just the once to order food from a street-vendor before going the rest of the way in silence. Hedwig was out hunting, and the flat was cold when they walked in due to her window being open. He probably didn't think Harry noticed, but given how nervous he had been making the Doctor, his anxiousness sky-rocketed when he saw the way the blond _hesitated_ before removing his shoes. As if he planned to be leaving shortly, and was debating the merit of taking them off at all.

"Toshi, what's going on?" Harry asked quietly, his heart sinking. Had he found out? Was this... Was this the 'I don't want to see you anymore' conversation he had been told about?

The blond grimaced when he saw the look on Harry's face and shook his head, "I think... You'll need to sit down for this one," he suggested, taking the younger man's hands and pulling him towards the sofas. This was not helping his nerves _in the slightest_.

"Toshinori – " Harry began, but the blond shut him up with a swift kiss, squeezing both of his hands before pulling back and nudging him down to sit, kneeling in-front of him. "What's this about? Are you..." he trailed off, "Have I done something wrong?" he asked instead. Surely he must have, somehow. Things seemed to have been going so well, but like with all things in his life, when they start going well it usually meant he'd missed something, and he was about to get a punch in the head from Murphy himself. Wearing a gauntlet.

Blue eyes blinked and the blond jerked back a little, "What, _shit_ , no! No, Harry I swear, you've – it isn't you, it's me," he explained.

Harry felt cold all of a sudden.

"I haven't... exactly been entirely honest with you. You know I'm a Pro-hero, yes?" he continued, oblivious to the clawed hand lodged in Harry's chest, slowly squeezing him from within.

"Yes," he breathed, somehow managing to keep his voice steady, distantly feeling Toshinori's hands stroking his knuckles as he stared down at their hands.

"I never told you who that was. And... You're the _best_ thing that's happened to me in decades, Harry," he explained earnestly, reaching up and stroking the Doctor's cheek, "The best, and most amazing thing. I don't think I have the words to describe what you mean to me, how much I want you in my life. How much I trust you _with_ my life. And, you deserve to know. Of all people, you're the one I would trust the most. I don't think I've ever felt this way about anyone before," he admitted cupping the Doctor's face with both hands, those lovely green eyes staring up at him in confused disbelief, something fragile and uncertain in his expression. Something vulnerable that made him want to bundle him up in his arms and never let go.

Affection, longing, that same grim determination and fearful anxiousness buzzed across his senses and Harry wanted to _vibrate_ along with them as Toshinori got to his feet, letting his hands slip free.

He paused then, and grimaced, "Please don't scream," he begged.

Harry opened his mouth in sheer bewilderment to ask what he meant by that, only to throw himself backwards on the sofa when his body seemed to _explode_ outwards. Wiry muscle ballooning out into almost cartoonish proportions before settling into -

All Might was stood in his living room.

Wearing the expression of a kicked puppy waiting to be told off and Harry could only just -

A laugh blurted from between his lips. He couldn't – he thought Toshi was _breaking up_ with him, but instead he was – oh god, he was such an idiot. Harry laughed, and put his face in his hands, hunching over as he felt his eyes begin to prickle with sheer _relief_.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry – I'm not laughing at you, I just – oh," he giggled helplessly, feeling the sting of confusion and bemusement mixing with faint frustration and wariness coming from the blond. He wiped his eyes and smiled up at him, "I thought you were going to say we couldn't see each other anymore," he admitted.

All Might knelt down in front of him and gathered up his hands again, "What on earth gave you that idea?" he asked, and wow, it was subtle, but Harry could definitely hear a change in his voice. His body temperature was higher, his voice was deeper, even the skin of his palms felt a little rougher.

Harry smiled and shook his head, "I'm an idiot. That's why. This though... I could never have imagined, though it certainly explains a lot of things I never thought to ask," he admitted twisting a hand free and comparing the size of their palms with a snort of disbelief at how _child-like_ he seemed by comparison. "This explains the burst damage to your lungs, and why conventional medicine never seemed to be able to heal it before it burst open again. Your Quirk causes a secondary level of gigantism, and the still healing tissues tear open when they expand," he muttered to himself (Ah, that answered his curiosity about whether or not his medical team had been sharing any information with him – they hadn't) before frowning up at him. "How _is_ your chest? No shortness of breath, no rattling in your lungs?" he asked sharply frowning at him.

The Pro-hero huffed a crooked smile, even like this, even like _**this**_ , he still asked. Still worried. He kissed him, crowding the Doctor back against his sofa as he practically lifted the smaller man into his lap to get closer as he wrapped his arms around the Hero's neck and arched into him.

 _ **000**_

Harry stared up at the ceiling, gently running his fingers through Toshi's hair as they listened to the TV, some baking programme about making perfect curry bread. After revealing his Hero identity, Toshi hadn't wasted any time in sticking his tongue as far down Harry's throat as he could manage, running his hands across every inch of his body, and generally getting the dark haired man more hot under the collar than either of them were ready for just yet. In one way, the Doctor could understand the sudden change in behaviour. Stepping into his more public and powerful form must have been a massive confidence boost, both mentally and sexually – it was hard to miss the sheer number of men and women that lusted loudly and publicly over All Might whenever he made a scheduled appearance (there had been a massive public backlash a few years back when a gang of teenage girls would show up and strip at every appearance, one of those girls was barely eleven).

He was much more timid and reserved when 'out of uniform', so to speak. He probably felt undesirable by comparison due to the general treatment he used to receive before Harry got him the help he needed, back when he looked like a famine victim that hadn't slept for thirty years. It was still a little jarring for Harry to suddenly be the one feeling out of his depth and going far too fast, practically drowning under the other man's emotions until he managed to grab the reigns of his own self-control and cool things off between them. He did not want the first time they had sex to be like this. He loved Toshinori long before he even knew about All Might, he wanted there to be absolutely no misunderstandings or doubts between them, nothing that would ever give the blond the creeping sour voice in the back of his head that said Harry only wanted him because of his alter-ego.

He should... be honest as well... about his past. It was only fair. And... It might help prevent any of those doubts in the future... It was only fair. Especially when Toshi had revealed his own secret identity, of his own volition (he would never know how much that meant to Harry, that he made the choice off his own back, that Harry hadn't had to find out himself. It meant more than he could describe).

Toshinori deserved that much too.

"I used to be a Vigilante," Harry blurted out, and immediately wanted to punch himself in the head. Smooth. Very – fucking damnit, _learn to tact Potter!_

"Pardon?" he heard the blond ask, and felt his body twist against him, turning so he was lying on his front, sprawled out on top of him, chin digging into Harry's sternum. He flushed in embarrassment because he'd really dropped himself in it now. There were _ways_ of explaining things, but of course he had to completely go and fuck it up, ruining what should have been a good night.

He rubbed his face, and sighed, "I used to be a Vigilante," he repeated, staring up at the ceiling. "I didn't lie when I said I was recruited for Auror when I was a teenager. What I didn't say was that they didn't have a choice in the matter. Hogwarts _is_ a registered Hero Academy, but the Headmaster... he ran a 'Hero Club' for 'exceptional' students. It was exclusive, you had to be invited. I ended up being pulled in almost as soon as I started school there at eleven. My parents had been members as well, back when they attended. So it wasn't like I had a choice.

"The problem was that 'Hero Club' was secretly an off-the-books training programme to create a private army for the Headmaster," he explained flatly, feeling Toshinori's hand creep into his own, tangling their fingers together, his thumb gently stroking the back of his hand as he stared up at the ceiling, unable to look down and see... he didn't even know what he would see, but his stomach turned sour with fear at the thought of it. "I don't know how much you're aware of how England handles its Pro-Heroes but... The Ministry is the _only_ overarching Hero authority in the country. It has it's own divisions and departments that handle everything from marketing, research and development, front-line crime fighting, quirk registration, _everything_. And it was completely corrupt and infiltrated right through to the highest level by a villain organisation that called themselves the Death Eaters.

"The leader of the Death Eaters had been a favoured student of the Headmaster, hell, all the Death Eaters had attended Hogwarts back in the day. But those two had... a history. Enough of one that the Headmaster created his own vigilante organisation, the Order of the Phoenix, to tackle the issue of the Death Eaters that had already taken control of the Ministry. When I say they took control, I really do mean it. Minister Fudge was taking bi-monthly bribes for years from Lucius Malfoy before he was forced to step down amidst calls of No Confidence, his successor was outright murdered when he refused to bend, and the man after him was weak willed and Malfoy immediately mind-controlled him with his Quirk. God knows why he never bothered with Fudge, the man was as spineless as it got."

Harry sighed, rolling his head away from the ceiling to glare at the back of the sofa on his right, "It's all really complicated," he complained, "My parents were fully licensed Heroes, they fought the Death Eaters for years before retiring when my mother got pregnant with me. That's when the Death Eaters got wind of – an interview. Between the Headmaster and a prospective new teacher, a woman with Prophesy. She had a full on vision in the middle of her interview, saying that the one to defeat the Basilisk approaches, born as the seventh month dies, to Heroes who have thrice defied him... That was the only part they heard. The Death Eater that had been spying on them was caught and thrown out at that point, he missed the rest of the Prophesy, but there were really only two candidates for who it could be. Me or my godbrother, Neville. The Death Eaters had a spy in the Order, and they waited for whichever one of us presented a Quirk first. My bad luck. Even worse was when it came out as the same fucking one as the Headmaster. They attacked on Halloween, just after my first birthday. Mum and Dad were killed, and, my Quirk backlashed when the Basilisk used his. Blew the house up. Injured him so badly he had to go into hiding for the next ten years to recover. That's why he and his followers _hated_ me so much, why I ended up being target number one despite having never heard of them until I was eleven and finding out that my parents weren't drunk drivers who got themselves killed on the motorway."

Toshinori's grip tightened, and Harry glanced down involuntarily. The blond's expression was complicated, but Harry could _feel_ him, even though he tried hard not to, tried to focus entirely on his own emotions so he wouldn't... fall apart. Sympathy, pity, if he felt those then he wasn't sure what he would do. Probably either cry or rage. All he could feel was a strange sense of realisation, deep simmering righteous anger, a rising tide of protectiveness, and something else, a kind of need to... Toshinori leaned up and kissed him, answering what kind of emotion that was as Harry felt one of his hands slide through his hair to cradle the back of his head against the arm of the sofa. It was slow and sweet, cool lips, saliva, and the faint taste of the coffee they drank before getting to the out-door ice rink.

Toshi kissed his lips, his cheek, forehead, and the side of his head, nuzzling into his hair as he shifted himself on the sofa so he wouldn't be crushing Harry. "You don't have to tell me this if you don't want to, it must be painful," he murmured into his ear, brushing the tip of his nose against his scalp.

Harry's chest felt heavy, and thick with sadness all of a sudden.

"I have to," he said, turning to press his forehead against Toshi's, "Someone should know it the way I did. The way _we_ did."

 _ **000**_

 _I killed a man when I was eleven._

 _I killed a boy when I was twelve._

 _I freed an escaped criminal about to be executed when I was thirteen._

 _I watched a classmate die when I was fourteen._

 _I turned against the Government when I was fifteen._

 _I was tortured, and tortured someone else, when I was fifteen._

 _I watched my mentor be betrayed and murdered by my teacher when I was sixteen._

 _I became a vigilante, a terrorist, a scapegoat, a threat, at seventeen._

 _I became a murderer at seventeen._

 _I became a Hero at eighteen._

 _I became a refugee seeking asylum at nineteen._

 _I became a Doctor at twenty four._

 _I met you at twenty eight._

 _ **000**_

"I'm still hunted," Harry admitted, his voice rough and croaking from talking, explaining the _civil war_ that had been covered up to the rest of the world as little more than Villain Disturbances. Explaining that he had been manipulated since the age of eleven into being a child soldier, a vigilante, marching to the demands of a dictator chess-master moving pieces behind the scenes, believing himself above authority and all reproach save his own. "With my Quirk, I either had to work for the Ministry, trade my loyalty from Dumbledore to them, become their attack dog, or become their enemy. The next Basilisk. I chose neither and left. As far as I'm aware, they never took me off their Most Wanted list."

Toshinori shook his head, blood burning in his veins, " _Why_ though? You fought their war, you left, you're no threat to them, why would they – it makes no sense," he growled furiously.

The former vigilante laughed shortly, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "Because my Quirk is _far_ too valuable for them to lose control of. Worse still to go to any country but their own."

Blue eyes snapped to green, narrowing intently. "You've been very cagey about your Quirk," he admitted.

"Like you're one to talk," Harry retorted with a smirk. Toshinori had to give him that one. He grimaced, prompting another laugh as Harry kissed his chin and wriggled out from under him. "Scooch over. It's been a while since I went onto a High-Burn, I'll probably set a few things on fire if I'm not careful," he explained as he took a few steps into the middle of the room, pulling his favourite knitted sweater off and tossing it to the side.

The temperature in the room ramped up immediately.

Harry had his eyes squeezed shut, his face screwed up with effort as heat began to _pour_ off him. The air around him wavered with heat, tongues of flame rippling faintly up his arms and shoulders.

His hair slowly began to lighten. It was so subtle that it took a moment for Toshinori to realise that it was no longer short and black, but getting steadily longer, bleeding from a deep burnished ebony colour to burgundy, then dark wine red, the tips _glimmering_ like hot embers, livid scarlet and gold, hanging down his back where it scorched and burnt his shirt to ash.

He breathed out slowly, embers fluttering from between his lips as he opened eyes the colour of molten gold.

" _ **Ta'dah**_?" he offered, voice resonating through the room as he awkwardly lifted his arms in a clunky showman's pose. __The ashes of his shirt flaking from his body to flutter onto the carpet.

Toshinori's mouth dropped open, "You're... You're the Phoenix," he blurted in recognition. __He'd seen those wanted posters, a boy listed as seventeen but looked far closer to fifteen at the time. He remembered thinking it was such a crying shame that someone so young had been pulled down the path of darkness, even entertained the idea of a short trip to England to try and drag Phoenix back onto the straight and narrow. Looking back now, knowing Harry as he did now, he wondered how well that would have gone. If he would have completely unsuspectingly ensured the Doctor's enslavement or death, or found himself allying against the British Ministry. It was hard to tell. He had been young and full of vim back then, it would have really depended on how Harry or his people handled him.

Harry grimaced and nodded, " _ **Yeah. The second one anyway. Dumbledore was the first**_ ," he explained, his voice lilting and just _filling_ the room even though it reasonably couldn't in that particular way. It was so _strange_. Beautiful. Toshinori didn't think he'd ever heard anything so beautiful before in his life. But it was still strange.

He got to his feet and made his way over. Harry leaned back when he tried to reach out, " _ **Careful. I'm a bit hot to the touch right now. I might burn you**_ ," he warned in concern, pupil-less golden eyes watching him carefully.

Between one breath and the next, he stepped forward and into All Might's skin, reaching out to gently gather up his beautiful red hair without hesitation. His skin stung with the heat but he couldn't stop himself from watching the way the dark red strands _glimmered_ in his hands as he ran it through his fingers. How Harry's eyes _glowed_ with inner light. How even his _skin_ was more luminous now, as if there were a sun trapped beneath his flesh.

"Beautiful," he mused, and stole a kiss from those burning lips.

 _ **000**_

Revealing the truth to each other at once changed everything, and nothing, between them.

The next day they climbed out of bed, ate breakfast together, dressed for their respective jobs, and left the flat. Harry slipped his spare door key into the blond's hand as he kissed him goodbye at the train station, and the two parted ways. Toshinori saved people with a gleeful abandon and energy that even the media noticed enough to comment on, the only thing All Might had to say was that seeing couples in love was truly wonderful, was it not? Harry went to the hospital and served in two unexpected emergency surgeries before using his Quirk to provide the hospital with another litre of Healing tears, the very 'miracle panacea' that they had been using in Toshinori's reconstructive surgeries, and even his inhaler cartridges.

Texts were exchanged, dinner plans debated, All Might was needed to deal with a street riot in Hiroshima, Harry put his plate in the oven to stay warm and didn't wait up. He would wake up somewhen around two in the morning when the blond slipped into the bed behind him and cuddled up close, smelling faintly of stale alcohol and bodywash. Someone had thrown their drink over him in the fight.

Harry's pager going off woke them both up at half-past four, and the Doctor had to peel himself out from under the covers and into the shower before rushing back to the hospital for a severe emergency. A bus crash seeing twenty seven children coming home from a cross-country sporting event in various states of injury, five of whom were critical, one DOA.

Nothing changed between them.

But at the same time, Harry now laughed when he caught sight of All Might on TV being harassed by reporters, seemingly taking a degree of unholy amusement in it that confused his colleagues until he explained that his partner worked for All Might, so Harry had met him personally outside of his Hero work. It was funny watching him really ham it up now that he knew what he was really like – and then held that information over his colleagues with malicious glee when they all clamoured to know the truth, what All Might was really like. Not that Harry was _ever_ going to tell them anything.

Toshinori would find himself having to bite his tongue when people flirted at him in his All Might form, fighting not to apologise and inform them he was already taken and quite happily so at that. He forced himself to play dumb, or flattered but embarrassed whenever he couldn't fake it, when in truth he wanted to shout from the heavens that he really didn't appreciate their behaviour. Actions that before had been only background noise, mildly ego stroking, or just distantly distasteful were now outright aggravating, if not revolting. He couldn't help but have to fight back a grimace with every vulgar display of interest people threw at him. It was almost as if he were surrounded by animals instead of men and women, many of whom he was sure were perfectly respectable and polite. It was impossible not to have that little voice in the back of his head snidely commenting on how Harry had never behaved like that, _ever_ , even when confronted with All Might. How the Doctor had more dignity and grace in his little finger than many of these people had in their entire bodies.

The growing dissatisfaction of his adoring fans often drove him to spending every moment that he wasn't rushing off after criminals hiding in Harry's flat, even when the doctor wasn't there. He kept Hedwig company, puttered around cleaning up (Harry hated doing the dishes and was notorious for leaving it as long as possible), and even taking a moment to chat to the people laid out in his shrine. Names now finally having faces with Harry's explanation ringing in his ears as he introduced himself to the Doctor's parents, to Teddy, to Tonks and Remus, Sirius, Fred, Colin, Lavender, Moody, Cedric, and Dobby (the Malfoys' first son, born Quirkless, and then turned into the family slave), to the faces of all the children (god they were children, he stared down at the photograph feeling as though his heart were in a clawed vice, they were _children_ ) lost within the Battle of Hogwarts.

Harry caught him talking to them once. He had come home a little earlier than expected and Toshi had been so busy telling Teddy about the villain Harry took down during the huge city fire and how amazing he'd been, that he hadn't heard the Doctor come in. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the man sat down next to him and leaned against his arm without a word.

Christmas came and went, they spent it together in Harry's flat. It wasn't a big Holiday in Japan, and Harry was already morose and homesick remembering the Weasleys and the friends he had to leave behind to keep his freedom. Toshi held him in his lap when he made his customary call on the simple pay as you go cell he planned to throw away as soon as he was finished. Listened with a grin to all the voices that shouted greetings, the quick fire bursts of news, Hermione was pregnant, Luna discovered three new species of animal, Neville was now teaching at Hogwarts, Ron was being considered for head Auror – he was going to make it so Harry could come home, he swore. Molly cried as she told him she'd made him another sweater, but she didn't know his size so it was probably going to be too big again.

"That's fine. I can give it to Toshinori, he's huge," the Doctor said with a wobbly grin leaning his head back against the blond's chest and grinning up at him as voices exploded off the phone, all of them clamouring to know who this Toshinori was and whether he was good enough for their wayward clan member. And that was how Toshinori ended up being introduced to the only family Harry had left, listening to the threats with a grin, the teasing of Harry's first girlfriend, Ginny, conspiratorially telling him that the Doctor was very ticklish, especially on the feet. Ron explaining in detail how to deal with Harry post nightmare when he was in punch first question later mode. Hermione trying to get her words in edgewise about his emotional tells and how 'I'm fine' could mean anything from actually being fine to 'I lost a limb and am bleeding out just don't want you to worry' depending on his tone of voice and you had to _know_ so you could respond quickly enough.

All the while, Toshi could feel Harry trying not to laugh against his chest.

He hung up not long later, and destroyed the phone immediately.

The two sat in the ringing silence afterwards, Harry slowly rubbing soft melted plastic from his fingers into the empty glass that held the warped, ruined remains of the now untracable phone.

"I knew they'd like you," the Doctor told him after a while, flicking the last bits of plastic into the glass.

The blond chuckled, pressing a kiss to his forehead, "I'm surprised they could even come to that decision. I don't think I even managed to say a full sentence," he teased, and felt Harry laugh a little.

"I love you. So that means they do too, because you make me happy," he declared firmly, and _no_ , Toshi's heart did _not_ skip a beat, no matter what the shit eating grin on his boyfriend's face had to say on the matter. He leaned down to kiss the aggravating younger man before he could say anything.

 _ **000**_

There was no particular occasion that marked their taking things a bit further in their relationship. No special day or anything. It was midway through the week between Christmas and New Years, they had both been in the shower when... Harry hugged him from behind, kissing his back, and asking if it was okay to touch him, even as his fingers lightly circled his bellybutton, making all the air on his arms and legs stand straight in anticipation.

It was unfair how easily Harry could turn him into a blushing mess, or just a mess in general, when not even hordes of screaming fans or even the most forward of suitors could prompt more than a discomforted grin. He supposed that was just part of being in a relationship.

(Harry had left a small cluster of bitemarks on his back, and... he doubted his clothing would get shredded in the course of his duties, but _just in case_ , he wore the suit with the cape.)

New Years had been a bit of a strange one. Hedwig had _not_ liked all the fireworks going off. And while Harry had the evening off, Toshinori hadn't. He ended up receiving a few pictures of Harry bundled up in bed, Hedwig peeking out from inside his shirt, and the caption 'Wish you were here', and 'missing you' to accompany them. When he came back early that morning, he found that Harry really _had_ gone to sleep, sat upright, with the lovely lady Hedwig still bundled into his shirt, now looking much calmer that the fireworks had stopped. He helped free her, but instead of going anywhere she hopped onto the headboard, and fluffed herself up. She spent the entire time he changed glaring at the windows as if waiting for someone to try and come in. Toshi got the distinct impression she was now trying to protect her owner and had to stifle a little laughter. Like owner, like pet indeed.

Harry was cold as ice, and it took a while to rub even a cursory amount of warmth back into him, enough so that he no longer looked so much like a corpse, and was capable of even twisting in his sleep to burrow for warmth. A good sign that he was no longer in danger of hypothermia or something similar. That had happened once. Harry had fallen asleep while waiting up for him on the sofa, and physically turned blue by the time he came back from an incident in Musutafu. Toshi nearly had a heart attack when he saw that, and dunked Harry into the bathtub, cold water to avoid killing any cells, and slowly warmed him back up. After that incident, they two tried to be a lot better. Harry told him, in detail, about the danger zones of his quirk, and _why_ it was dangerous for him – he had been forced to develop it faster than his body could keep up, so now it was too strong for him, and as he had physically stopped growing he _couldn't_ catch up. That was why there were no Adult Learning programmes for Pro-Heroes. Quirk development was only safe when the body could develop along with it.

April saw a quiet vigil for Teddy on his Birthday. Harry refrained from his usual bad habits of picking fights that weekend, somehow. He didn't think Toshi would have appreciated it.

May though. Goddamn May. The Battle of Hogwarts.

He took those two weeks off, the one leading up, and the one coming down, but _gods_... When Toshi had to go out and save people, the silence of that flat, the roar of fire and screaming in his memories, how he couldn't even close his _eyes_ without seeing Fred's slackened face staring up at him, dusted with stone fragments, his skull misshapen, one eye bulging just a little out of its socket as he smiled up at them unseeingly. At Lavender, her body physically rotting and oozing after she went head to head against Fenrir and his Disease Quirk to defend a group of fleeing eleven year olds, her softened flesh, paperthin skin, torn open by the syringes on his fingertips. Colin, blackened and withered, his tiny form twisted into a husk of blackened charcoal in the darkened corner of the Entrance Hall where he shielded a cleaning cupboard with a twelve year old girl inside from Crabbe Snr's Fiendfyre Quirk.

He went out. And he got drunk. And he got into a fight.

Fire in his blood, lightning up his spine, he just needed to... to move, to do _something_! To drown it out!

The look on Toshinori's face when he returned, bruised and bloody, just made him feel even lower. The emotions that accompanied it were worse, more still when in order to try and prevent All Might from going and ploughing into the bar he had been drinking out of he had to explain what he'd even been _doing_... The disappointment cut particularly deeply. Getting scolded for fighting, even without using his Quirk, like an errant school child put his back up and he tried, so hard to keep his temper but...

That was their first big fight.

They were both stubborn people, so when Toshinori refused to leave his flat, Harry left instead. The blond tried to follow him but, he was too angry, too hurt, too _raw_ , to let him and broke his self-imposed rule of teleporting. He flamed out of the corridor, and into his office at the Hospital where he dragged his sleeping bag out from under the sofa, tended to his bloody knuckles and bruises in the tiny disabled toilets just down the corridor, and went to sleep on the couch.

It was cowardly of him, and not fair on Toshi, but Harry refused to go home for three days. The second of May passed with him sat on a park bench watching children playing at the climbing frames on the far side of the duck pond, watching animals continuing their day to day lives without incident or drama, ignorant to the lives that were lost eleven years ago that day. Eleven years. Teddy would have been in his First Year at Hogwarts today.

The hell was he even doing with himself?

Harry stayed on that bench well into the night, knees drawn up to his chest, watching the sun set, the stars rise. He watched a fox slip out of the city and drink from the pond before startling as some teenagers shouted and wooped, rushing into the playpark, and fled.

He watched the sun rise, and didn't even flinch when red boots slammed into the path next to him. He heard a shaky breath release, and a faint wash of warm displaced air a second before Toshinori swept him into a tight hug, kneeling on dew wet grass in order to bury his face into the side of Harry's neck.

He was too cold to feel any of the blond's emotions, and wasn't sure if he wanted to either as his skin _burned_ with heat against his own.

"You're _freezing_ cold," the blond moaned in worry as he drew back, cupping Harry's cheeks in order to look him in the eye. He probably looked an absolute fright. He hadn't slept well in his office, nightmares seized him easily, he had been prowling around the city since he left, and not slept either. He hadn't stopped to eat either, he drank from water-fountains but other than that, he had thought about going into one of the many various bars, but the remembrance of Toshinori's disappointment crawling across his skin always had him turning in the opposite direction, and biting his lip hard enough to bleed.

"I didn't want to – feel anyone else," he admitted quietly, his voice barely a whisper as he closed his eyes and gripped Toshi's arm even as he felt the blond lean forward and kiss his forehead. "Sorry I worried you."

"Yes you did," the Pro agreed sternly, pressing their foreheads together, "But I'm glad you're alright. There's been a lot of villain activity and I – I feared the worst when you wouldn't answer your phone," he admitted.

"I left it at home," Harry said flatly. He didn't need to say that he hadn't been back, Toshi knew it quite well. All of his senses were enhanced when he stepped into All Might's skin, not just his sight and hearing.

"Are you ready to talk to me, instead of running off like a child?" the blond asked, his voice just a little sharp indicating that he was still _very_ upset with him. It was probably a good thing Harry was so cold, he didn't have the mental strength not to be pulled under or influenced by the other man's emotions right now, if Toshinori was angry, then Harry would just get angry right back at him, and things would fall apart even further.

He nodded slowly.

"Can you teleport?"

He shook his head, "Too cold." He carefully pushed away the large palms that tried to rub some warmth back into him with a short shake of his head, "Need to stay cold. I can't... I can't keep myself separate right now. I'll be influenced by any emotions near-by and echo them." He looked up at Toshinori and gently brushed the long strands of blond hair behind his ear with icy fingertips, "You're angry. I'll get angry too."

He nodded slowly, "I am angry," he agreed, "I'm also upset, terrified, hurt, frightened, disappointed, and so _relieved_ that you're alright, for a given definition of the word." They both damn well knew he wasn't. While Toshinori had needed a lot of help with his physical health, Harry was the opposite and needed help with his mental health. The problem there being that because of the way he was brought up, he didn't understand that fact, he was _fine_. He was fine. Getting it through his head that he wasn't fine, and that it was okay, that he didn't have to handle it alone and he could ask for help and lean on Toshinori when he needed to was the hard part. Because Toshinori was a Pro-hero, and he was already responsible for so many people, Harry didn't want to _add_ to his workload. Never mind that protecting and helping people was what he lived and breathed, that he _wanted_ to help Harry in any way he could, support and protect him as the Doctor had done for him. Goddamn, Harry had given him back his _life_ and his _career_. The time he could spend as All Might had been a scant seven hours before the Doctor barged into his life and ripped that restaurant table out from between them. Now he could remain in his Hero skin indefinitely, he no longer coughed blood, he was able to keep food down, he had put _weight_ back on!

He scooped the dark haired man up and slid smoothly into All Might's skin before turning on heel and leaping to the nearest roof, feeling the doctor's icy fingers dig in and grip the spandex of his supersuit.

Slipping in through Hedwig's window, All Might deposited his precious cargo on his feet, watching solemnly as he padded quietly away to hang his coat up and take his shoes off. Crisp white bandages around his wrists and knuckles, a plaster on his cheek. He remembered how the man looked when he came home last time. His skin was too pale, his eyes far too bright, his lips scarlet with blood, his body far too thin even for his slender frame, his hair mussed and wild, sharp and broken edges designed to cut and rend, fire in his blood. He looked like a creature of wrath and ruin, and for all of a heartbeat, Toshinori mistook him for a villain.

Now though, he looked small. Small, and tired, and fractured. Those sharp edges no longer looked dangerous, but tragic.

He stepped forward, releasing One for All with a soft breath, and caught the Doctor as he came back, gently cradling the back of his head in one hand as he dipped forward and kissed him. Gently teasing open cold lips to kiss him deeply.

No matter how hurt or angry he was, he still loved him. And he wanted Harry to know that.

He scooped the young man up, gathering him up in his cape and took them both into the bedroom where Harry couldn't escape, bundling them both up in blankets.

They talked.

Harry was forgiven, but assured it wouldn't be forgotten. Toshinori promised to be back in the evenings more when he learned that someone sleeping next to him could prevent flashbacks or nightmares, his empathy would latch on when he warmed up in the course of a nightmare and his brain would put him back to sleep by feeding off the person next to him. Harry promised to talk to him instead of go out drinking. Toshinori told him it wasn't the drinking that bothered him, but the fighting, and made him change that promise to not going out looking for a fight. If he needed to work off a little steam, then _ask_. He was a Pro-Hero, enhanced strength or not, All Might could handle anything Harry threw at him, and to be honest, it would probably be a lot of fun to spar together.

They kissed. Hands skimming chilled skin peeling back clothing – Toshinori's All Might pager went off, summoning him back out.

He had been a hair from turning it off when Harry kissed him softly and told him to go, he would still be here when he came back. He would clean up a bit, and then call Hermione back in England. He had a burn phone left, and she would still be awake around now.

He left, and dealt with the incident as quickly as possible before rushing back home. The smell of burnt plastic was in the air, and Harry was damp and hot to the touch when Toshinori hugged him from behind, smelling faintly of bodywash as he mixed cake batter, the radio playing in the background.

By the time summer rolled around, Toshinori gave up any pretence of living in his old flat. He packed his belongings, found homes for it in Harry's flat, and turned his keys over to his landlord. It was a longer commute to Might Tower, but _so_ worth it. Harry paid for a little renovation to make things easier for him, he no longer had to duck under the doors, the bath was made a bit bigger, the mirror was replaced with something a lot longer, just little things that made things less frustrating. They replaced Harry's small double bed with Toshi's queen, having to do a little furniture rearrangement in order to make it fit in the narrow room, they also replaced Harry's small TV with Toshinori's huge flatscreen and surround sound system. The two of them toasted to moving in together, and might have gotten a little drunk, falling into bed and each other with sloppy drunken glee. Harry was sore the next day, but Toshinori was the one suffering the most with a truly terrible hangover. He had forgotten that one of his medications wasn't to be mixed with alcohol, or at least, as much alcohol as he ended up drinking that night. He was a lightweight in all honesty, and had foolishly attempted to keep up with Harry in some kind of unspoken challenge. One he lost. Embarrassingly so, his boyfriend told him cheerfully as he gently massaged the worst of his headache away.

All Might's visit to the childrens' ward went down like house on fire, the children _adored_ him, the parents loved him. And barely a week later both he and Harry had managed to schedule in a surprise visit, no media presence, specifically so All Might could meet the terminal children without them feeling as though they were anything akin to a publicity gimmick. It was heart breaking, and Toshi honestly couldn't understand how Harry could handle working with them _knowing_ that some of them only barely had weeks left to live, some only had _days_ , all of those amazing vivacious little lives just... waiting to be snuffed out, fighting to hang on just a little longer. It broke his heart.

The more public visit before hand saw a handful of reporters, and Might Tower's official PR manager accompanying him, was both rewarding and frustrating. Toshi was able to pass on a few words of encouragement to the next generation of little Heroes, brighten up a lot of children's days, he got to meet Harry's multiple teams of nurses, and a few of the long-term patients who were in and out. The only downside was that even though they had been _so careful_ not to allow any hint of any relationship beyond professional respect to leak out, one of the reporters had run a gossipy column on 'All Might's Heartache' for the 'cold hearted doctor'. Harry ended up with a few hate-mail letters, and even a few people recognised him in the ER and told him off while he was working. Might Tower had to release an official statement naming Harry as the partner of All Might's personal secretary, and a good friend of the Hero in question, the comments made by the tabloid paper Ohaiyo Fuji are fictitious and inflammatory. Legal action will be pursued. The column was removed and an official apology made to Harry within a week.

Harry thought it was hilarious and had the entire thing cut out and framed, 'for posterity' he declared with a toothy grin that looked more than a little menacing. Recalling what he said about prior encounters with the press, Toshi made no comment, and just kissed him instead.

They both had their off days.

Days when Toshinori was seized with insecurities, when he was literally punched with the reminder of his last confrontation with Nighteye – and what he had been told. It was times when Harry was asleep before him, curled up with him on the sofa, or in bed in his arms as he watched the sunrise across his face, and wondered if he was being unspeakably cruel and selfish to do this. To create something like this, to live with Harry like this, knowing there was a timer. That his days were numbered. How many, he didn't know, but to know that there was going to be a sudden painful stop in the future. That he wouldn't be able to grow old with the – with – with the man he _loved_. And that he hadn't _told_ him. _Couldn't_ tell him. Guilt ate him alive when he thought about it, and he couldn't bare to look Harry in the eye, didn't feel worthy of even being in his presence. Those days would see him fleeing to Might Tower and working himself to a numb, empty exhaustion where he would stagger home, and fall asleep either with his face buried in his boyfriend's stomach, or into his empty bed, hugging his pillow to his chest until the real thing could slither in and take its place.

Days when Harry would come home after a bad surgery and just want to be left alone, days when something was said, or a memory prompted, and he was a hair short of starting a fight. When he felt pent up, and aggressive, and _angry_ but with no means of dealing with it. Nights when he would wake up alone, cobwebs of nightmares and terrors still clinging to his mind as he staggered to the living room and stayed up until Toshinori came home and it was _safe_ to even attempt sleeping again. Days when he just... couldn't. When getting out of bed felt like trying to climb a mountain, when everything was grey and dull, and sound was strangely muffled or far away. Those days were the worst for Toshi because he didn't know what to do. The aggressive ones were easy, they had gotten good at sneaking out of the city to practice their more destructive abilities far, _far_ away from everyone else. Harry actually hit almost as hard as All Might when cutting loose completely. Of course, they didn't exactly see the end of those fights, they got a little too interested in making out about halfway through, and the only reason they didn't go all the way those times was the simple lack of lubricant. At seven feet tall, in proportion to himself, versus Harry's scant five foot and three inches, they had both agreed that there would be no sex without lubricant and a lot of preparation, for safety reasons.

For Harry's birthday in late July Toshinori may have gone a little all out in getting him gifts. He already donated half of his pay-cheque to the various charities that All Might patronaged, but that still left him with more money than he knew what to do with. What better way to spend it than on spoiling the most important person in his life?

He gave _thought_ to taking Harry away to another country, and stealthily paying for his friends and family back in England to join them, but he didn't have any of their contact information, and had no way of getting hold of it without tipping Harry off. Plus, it might have over-stepped some kind of invisible boundary he didn't know about. Harry was _very_ protective of his family.

Instead, he went for a mixture of things. He got Harry entirely new baking supplies, as he was something of a stress baker (something he shared with Molly, he admitted a little sheepishly as he presented Toshi with a warm blueberry muffin), a few new fiction books as he knew the young man had a particular weakness for fantasy adventure novels. His last gift he knew would be a bit... well, he was a little worried about that one. He'd had to go hunting through old internet articles, newspaper clipping in the library, and even through a few of the old Hero records to find the right pictures. As soon as Ron achieved his position as head of the Aurors, he planned to exonerate Harry and remove him from their wanted list. That meant, if he wanted, he could go back to Hero work. Officially now. So, Toshinori had... been a little proactive. He had hunted down old pictures of Harry's Hero Uniform, and quietly forwarded it to the head of his support team and swore him to secrecy, telling him it was for an old friend who got on the wrong side of a corrupt official and hopefully, within the next few months, would be cleared of all Charges and permitted to take up Hero work. As a congratulations, All Might wanted to present him with a new uniform, whether he went through with getting his licence again was his choice, but he wanted that choice to be there to begin with. Thankfully Satoshi was more than happy to do him this personal little favour, listening to the details of his quirk and how he used it in combat to modify and improve Harry's old uniform. He even gave it a bit more of a modern flare.

But for the night in question, he took the day off, cleaned the flat from top to bottom, bought flowers, fresh food, and had one of the girls from the Secretarial office help him cook a small romantic feast. She left him with strict instructions on times and dishing up, and he followed them to the letter.

Everything was laid out on the table, and the candles lit when Harry walked through the front door, just as Toshi was lighting the rest of the candles in the flat.

The look on Harry's face was well worth the effort, and embarrassment he knew he would suffer tomorrow from the girls. But he knew he would be well rewarded so. He could handle a little goodnatured teasing in exchange for a good evening, and a happy Harry.

The look on his face when he opened the box with his modified Hero uniform was hard to describe.

Toshinori rubbed the back of his neck, "When you said Ron was working on getting your criminal status revoked, I thought you might like the _option_ of becoming a Pro-Hero legitimately. I dug up some old records and found your old outfit, and had it modified to fit your abilities a little better. It's entirely your choice, Harry, I just... wanted you to know that you _had_ that choice, if you wanted it," he explained sheepishly.

He had learned a long time ago that choice was one of those things that Harry valued most.

Judging by the kiss he received, he had made the right one.

 _ **0000**_

 **And bam. Chapter finished. Bit of a struggle. And the part where Harry will have his name cleared was very much unexpected, I didn't even see that one coming, or Harry still being in contact with people back in England. I originally planned for a complete cut off, but apparently Harry was having none of it. XDDD;;;**


End file.
